Lauren Jaben Portfolio Box

Deconstructed Collages, 2020, $3000

"I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste." - Marcel Duchamp

"In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few." - Shunryu Suzuki

My artistic practice is driven in part by my love of the materials I am compelled to collect, and by the element of chance as I consciously limit myself to utilizing found, not purchased, materials. For the Wally Workman Portfolio Box Project in particular I used only deconstructed packaging I had collected over the course of the last couple of years. These are items that although I found them to be quite pleasing in appearance I would not normally include in my work. I experienced a sense of liberation as I challenged my ideas about what is and isn’t acceptable, and released myself from the exacting process of my usual way of working, instead embracing a measured, simplified gesture and a pared down simplicity of composition and letting the materials speak for themselves.

As I joyfully experimented with this new language I pondered change, otherness, freedom, and possibility.

Collage Suite comes in handmade engraved clamshell box with museum gloves and artist statement.