Lauren Kalman is a visual artist whose practice is invested in installation, video, photography and performance. Through her work she investigates perspectives of beauty, body image, value, and consumer culture. Raised in the Midwest, Kalman completed her MFA in Art from the Ohio State University and earned a BFA with a focus in metals from the Massachusetts College of Art. She has taught at institutions including Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, RI. Currently she is an Assistant Professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI.

She exhibits and lectures internationally. Her work had been featured in exhibitions at venues including the Centro Cultural Recoleta, Museum of Contemporary Craft, and Contemporary Art Museum Houston. Her video work has also been screened in several international film festivals. Her photographs are part many private collections as well as the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

Artist Statement

My current work replicates and transforms illness and trauma through performance, video, objects and photography. Diseases like acne, cancer, herpes, and elephantiasis, or physical trauma like amputation and facial reconstruction surgery, are presented as jeweled infections, fabric growths, or wearable instruments. They are hybrids of the grotesque or undesirable aspects of the body and objects we associate with beauty, status, health or wealth.