Lauren Blair

"I create work that celebrates often missed intricacies of the natural world, and centers wild spaces as powerful sites of memory and connection. Nature has always functioned as both a subject and emotional refuge for me. Many of my formative experiences in the outdoors became moments where I felt real belonging, curiosity and care, and have witnessed this same reverence through stories shared by my clients and loved ones.

My paintings explore how experiencing awe and wonder in nature can shape identity and belonging - how the color and smell of a plant can place you back in a pivotal moment in time, how a certain species you witnessed can become a ballast to see you through difficulty, how a particular setting can make you feel at home more than any house could. My impulse to paint in vibrant, graphic layers of gouache is directly tied to the hope I feel; that despite our perceived helplessness, we still have power to save our environments.  Ultimately, I want viewers to be able to connect with their own memories of discovery, feel more inspired to protect wild spaces, and remember the quiet, miraculous joy of being alive on this planet."