Lauren Hausman


“With an apple I will astonish Paris”

-Cezanne

 

     I began the semester with the hope of turning an otherwise insignificant everyday object, an apple, into something else.  Like Cezanne, I hope to astonish my viewer with a unique portrayal of seemingly ordinary fruits and vegetables.  Cezanne painted an apple in a way no one had seen before.  His inventive use of color and decisive marks are inspiring and part of the reason I chose this theme.  I am also inspired by the American photographer, Edward Weston.  In 1927, he began photographing single objects and illuminating their natural beauty.  In his famous image, Pepper, he takes the vegetable out of its original context and zooms in, to help the viewer get an essence of the object.  My goal is similar to Weston’s in that I hope to simplify the composition of the image in order to illuminate its natural beauty and to increase its importance.  In this way I have taken the traditional still life theme and interpreted it in a more modern way. 

 

         

 

 

     I chose to focus on fruits and vegetables because I find their natural rounded forms to be harmonious and peaceful. Throughout the semester I studied the geometric forms of produce and the use of color in creating them.  Finding the unexpected colors in the objects was challenging and exciting.  In each piece I deliberately pushed the colors, changed and adapted the natural hue of the produce to create a realistic but playful effect. For example, in White Onions, the vegetables contain somewhat unexpected colors such as pink and orange, or in Lemon, the yellow fruit has flecks of oranges and reds.

     My first body of work is a more realistic than my later pieces.  With my early pieces, like Apple, I chose to work on a small scale because I liked the idea of creating something that viewers need to examine closely.  Small objects, in general, are more personal and tend to be treasured more.  After creating several small paintings, I moved on to larger works in an exploratory effort to further my technique. I struggled to create these larger pieces, because they required a larger still life setup, and more time and careful thought.  These works are important because they helped me master my handling of backgrounds and fabric, vessel forms, and color combinations. 

     My second series is a collection of quick studies, in which the paint is thickly applied.  Loose brushwork creates texture and a sense of movement and energy.  I am attracted to the energetic brushwork, color usage, and theme of nature that characterizes the art of impressionist artists like Van Gogh and Cezanne.  Tomatoes was the first painting of this second series and was created in an effort to loosen up.

 

      

     My work has grown into an expressive form of my original idea.  I feel these paintings relate more closely to my future career as an art therapist.  I began to let myself stray from a tight  technique and create something with more energy.  These pieces have more movement and emotional content.  As an aspiring art therapist I believe in the healing powers of creating art.  Creating something spontaneous and a true reflection of my emotions was enjoyable, liberating, and often stress relieving.

 

Lauren's Senior Show

 

[Lauren's website can be found here! -admin.]