Hold On To Your Ego, 2019

Lauren Seiden  

Lauren Seiden's work explores the essential elements of process and materiality through an intuitive and intimate layering of graphite that tests the conventions of drawing—breaking down the surface and transforming the paper into a physical, textural and structural form. The varying qualities of each drawing are made through changes in applied pressure, speed, and application. 

Situating her pieces, not as a medium of preparation or provision, but as a final form, displayed on wooden stretcher bars, Seiden expands upon the notion of drawing as painting and painting as sculpture. This painterly application of graphite creates pieces with a metallic, armor-like appearance, yet also contain moments of breakage (revealing the delicate nature of this medium). The act of folding paper strengthens its structure while weakening the surface, allowing for necessary manipulation of the material in order to maintain stability. 

These dualities of strength and fragility are encapsulated within a process that, like the work itself, strikes a balance between the internal and external. This rhythmic and layered mark making results in compositions of subtle motion and tension— toying with a balance between control and chance.

Seiden has participated in a number of solo and group exhibitions, including but not limited to, Mattatuck Museum, New Haven, Gallery Nosco, Rio, Brazil and London, UK, The Drawing Center, New York, Adam Baumgold Gallery, New York, and Querini Stampalia Foundation, Venice Italy.