b. 1991
Lauren Karjala is a figurative painter based in Dover, NH. Her paintings incorporate figures as well as motifs from religion, mythology, and contemporary or personal symbolism to reveal dreamlike, autobiographical narratives that blur the line between memory and imagination. She received a BFA in painting from the University of New Hampshire in 2014. Lauren has been exhibited widely throughout New England, and her work has been featured in three issues of Vanity Fair UK (2022) and the I Like Your Work Podcast Catalog (2023).
“These works are part of an ongoing series that serves primarily as an exercise to work with colors outside of my typical palette, explore new subject matter, and work on a smaller scale. These paintings seek to convey subtleties of color within the darkness as well as the qualities of light that shine through it, whether natural or artificial. They carry the same combination of dream, memory, and imagination as my main body of work but don’t rely so heavily on portraiture or the figure to convey a narrative, which is also simpler than usual. The small scale of the paintings helps keep my hand looser and less precious. Over the last 8 months, this series has fundamentally changed how I approach color and narrative in my large scale work, and has increased my confidence as a painter.”
Q. If you could offer your younger self any advice at the start of your artistic career, what would it be?”
A. “As an artist, you are opening yourself to a level of critique that is not often spoken aloud in other contexts. There will be many voices telling you about your work and yourself, sometimes solicited but often not. It is good to be able to receive and digest the feedback that honors your humanity, individuality, and pushes you to grow both as an artist and as a person, whether that feedback is positive or negative. It is also good to be able to set aside the feedback that comes from a place of apathy, or the desire to speak for the sake of speaking, or the impulse to control a situation. This type of feedback can also be positive or negative. Ultimately, your intuition and belief in your work will guide you to know the difference. Lean on those who are on your team, leave the rest behind, and do both with love and gratitude.”