I create immersive environments through vibrant, thick, textured and romantic paintings. My paintings reference fables, folklore, and fairy tales that challenge our current cultural climate through the eyes of feminine figures and personified creatures.
I was homeschooled for a period of time and that’s when magic truly found me – or maybe I found it? I was often alone without any classmates so I began telling myself stories aloud in the woods.
After reading the chronicles of Narnia I was determined to find some portal in a tree to transport me to another realm. Failing to find this gateway, I began to create homes for the fairies in the woods, in an attempt to summon them into my world.
I enjoyed fairy tales so much because though the protagonists suffered, they always overcame. But as I began experiencing sexism and became aware of rape culture, the stories took on new meanings. I saw that they were intertwined with old tropes of women being owned, kidnapped, and saved by princes. Protagonists had to be “good girls” and “beautiful” to be saved.
I began feeling I had more in common with the villains, the witches. I learned to be ashamed of myself and didn’t care what my ending looked like.
I was told Geminis were “crazy.” Redheads were “crazy.” Everything that made me different from others began to seem like a flaw within myself.
Painting, for me, started as therapy. I would paint repetitive marks, making works that were purely expressive and abstract. After taking painting courses, I began incorporating figures and narratives. As I learned more, I was influenced by early Italian frescos, European royal portraits, and contemporary artists such as Allison Schulnik, Lisa Yuskavage, and Kyle Staver. Today my work is filled with lessons from my personal experiences. It questions dangerous themes within society, while conjuring the magic I felt as a child.
Surrounding myself with art is only natural for my sun sign. It allows me to adapt, empathize, and express myself. Being a Gemini has allowed me to thrive not only as a person, but as an artist.
Art is so important to me, because it’s my portal back to the fairy houses I built in the forest as a child.
Editor’s Note: Astrocreatrix Spotlight is a vessel for members of the Creatrix community to highlight artists whose work inspires them, during the season of the artist’s birth. This Gemini season spotlight on Lauren Chapman was curated by Sarah Penello.
About the Author:
Lauren Chapman (b. 1990) is from Tulsa, Oklahoma and lives in Columbia, SC. She received her BFA in Painting at the University of South Carolina. Chapman has been awarded the Scholastic Art & Writing Gold Key Award for excellence in Visual Arts, the Yaghjian Studio arts scholarship at USC, and the 2018 Artfields Solo Award Exhibition at Jones-Carter Gallery. She has been featured in Garnet and Black, Daily Gamecocks, The State, Free Times, and Susie Magazine. She has lectured for classes at USC, SC State University, and spent a summer residency in Monte Castello, Italy. Exhibitions include group shows in Italy, New York, South Carolina and solo shows in Iowa and South Carolina.
