American artist Lauren Hussey sought to explore the intersection of visual abstraction and language. She combines fragments of illegible text, scribbled calligraphic marks, and blurred low-resolution images, creating multidimensional compositions of ink blots and overlapping forms. Drawing inspiration from Victorian microscope artists that make intricate arrangements on slides using diatoms, Hussey’s abstract works offer a similar illusory experience on an intuitive and intricate level, creating dynamic environments that engage with our innate desire to make sense of our surroundings.
As a first generation Cuban American, Hussey finds her cultural experience to be bifurcated by half-ness and appearance. Her works mimic the way she witnessed the function of identity in contemporary society as a hybridized form, shown through her exploration of binaries and symbols through object conversation. Embracing variations in dimensionality on both an illusionistic and formal level, her works remain in flux.
She received a BFA in Painting Drawing & Printmaking at the University of North Florida. While attending UNF, she was also able to study abroad in Italy at St. John’s University. She later went on to earn her MFA in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills. Now, she divides her time between her studio, working as an artist’s studio assistant, calligrapher, and in NYC restaurants.