Exhibition: Material Level

Material Level showcased the work of Philadelphia-based artist and educator Lauren Pakradooni, a Guest Artist in Print at the Department of Art and Art History. Lauren Pakradooni’s studio practice is a conversation between sculpture and print media, in which she uses traditional printmaking techniques such as; etching, monotype, and silkscreen for unconventional and direct processes. Informed by the built environment, her work includes elements of architecture as well as historical references to design, creating imagery that is conversely recognizable and abstract. Her objects extend the two-dimensional format of printmaking into dimensional forms that mirror or respond to shifting observations of physical space. These sculptural forms are surfaced with silkscreen prints of photo-based and handmade patterns, often referencing materials from an urban environment, including stucco, brick, and layers of paint. The sculptures are often incorporated into the process of making etchings and monotypes, working from the forms as models and maquette in the process of making prints. Lauren’s work is deeply invested in the visual vocabulary and history of printmaking and its processes, with themes of reflection, mirroring, repetition, making itself apparent in the graphic language of her work.

 

Lauren Pakradooni is a Philadelphia-based artist, musician, and educator. She received a BA from Hampshire College and a MFA in Printmaking from Rhode Island School of Design. Lauren is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art at Hampshire College, where she teaches drawing, sculpture, and printmaking. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions nationally and internationally. She has been awarded fellowships and residencies by the Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar, The Wassaic Project, Women’s Studio Workshop, Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, and AS220. She is an active member of Second State Press in Philadelphia, PA.