Glass Houses 15: Lauren Kelley

by Everett Taasevigen November 24, 2009
A woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai featuring a grassy cliffside with wooden structures and a bridge.
Katsushika Hokusai, "The Hanging-cloud Bridge at Mount Gyōdō near Ashikaga," 1833–1834, color woodblock print, 10 x 14 7/8 inches. Worcester Art Museum, John Chandler Bancroft Collection
A sculpture of the Houston Astrodome by Kambel Smith.
Kambel Smith, "Houston Astrodome," 2024, cardboard, acrylic, spray paint, astroturf and foam board, 42 x 42 x 4 inches.

Lauren Kelley’s unapologetic approach to stop-motion animation is in
keeping with the studio space in which she creates her videos. Kelley
rents a very humble apartment just outside of downtown Houston, using
it as her studio. It’s a cozy space with a bedroom that she uses for
prop storage. The kitchen, its refrigerator loaded with bottled water,
serves as an office.

I’m excited I had this opportunity to photograph Kelley before she
ventured off to New York for an artist residency at the Studio Museum
in Harlem.

Lauren Kelley was born in 1975 in Baltimore, Maryland. She has a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Kelley attended Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2007 and was a Core Fellow at the Glassell School of Art in Houston from 2007-2009. She is the recipient of a 2008 Altoid Award. Her work has most recently been included in Cinema Remixed & Reloaded: Black Women Artists and the Moving Image since 1970 and No Zoning: Artists Engage Houston, both at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Kelley is currently Artist in Residence at the Studio Museum in Harlem, where her work will be exhibited in July 2010.

Everett Taasevigen is a Houston photographer.

Also by Everett Taasevigen:

Glass Houses 14: Margarita Cabrera

Glass Houses 13: Hana Hillerova

Glass Houses 12: Leslie Wilkes

Glass Houses 11: Julie Speed

Glass Houses 10: Bert Long

Glass Houses 9: Steve Brudniak

Glass Houses 8: David Aylsworth

Glass Houses 7: Jill Pangallo

Glass Houses 6: Nestor Topchy

3 comments

3 comments

Jarrod November 25, 2009 - 15:23

This article has made me want to see her work…..nice job and beautiful photos! Thanks!

Reply
Slick50 November 25, 2009 - 16:25

Who would have guessed that behind such a mundane exterior (literally) beats the heart of an artist. I really liked seeing the intricacies of her work — cutting the fabric, putting together little tiny worlds. She speaks to me. Thanks for the unusual insight into another interesting creative in our city.

Reply
Ron November 26, 2009 - 08:40

A beautifully intimate portrait of the artist Lauren Kelley in her studio. Just enough visual information to encourage me to discover her work.
Wonderful photographs, Everett.

Reply

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