Pen & Paper: Lauren YS
“Goopy — Goopy is a term I get a lot.”
When we met Lauren YS during this year’s POW! WOW! Hawaii, we were quick to realize how perfect she was for our Pen & Paper series. Not just from the fact that she had already produced her own stop-motion videos in a similar P&P style, but rather that she had with her a fat stack of books riddled with incredible scribbles — although calling them “scribbles” is a mean injustice to what they actually are, which you can of course see for yourself in the gallery above.
The level of detail and the intricacies that deserves a second study are what really makes Lauren’s work stand out, aside from the fantastical concepts and subjects she conjures up in her head to draw. “very illustrative… very focused on line work… Asian influenced… sort of comic influenced, and… Goopy — Goopy is a term I get a lot,” Lauren explains of her style.
Most of what she decides to create stem from her love for all things mythical, as well as a deep interest in more asian-orientated culture and art styles such as Ukiyo-e style wood blocks, or Japanese ghost stories. “Lately i’ve been reading into Japanese ghost stories because they’re really fucked up! Really weird, like headless ghosts flying around killing people in bathroom stalls and stuff like that. I like things that cultures come up with that you can’t necessarily see but people believe in.”
From ancient lore to comics to her own dreams, the artist will find herself opening her sketchbook no matter where she is to get out whatever that thing is that’s floating around in her head. Lauren was born in Denver, Colorado, but now resides in Oakland, California where she’s supposed to be posted up, but more often than not she’s on the road soaking up all sorts of unique experiences. Going through her body of work reveals the diversity of her style, from the aforementioned detailed line work to softer, baroque-esque pieces, all obvious to her hand as an artist.
On top of her many artistic styles, Lauren is also able to apply her skills on to varying mediums, from paper to canvas to murals on walls, however what we have here for our Pen & Paper series shows off more of the personal side to Lauren. The works range from college days drawings to her more recent masterpieces which include her signature Asian girls and chimerical creatures. “My art use to be entirely a reflection of myself, my interests and my daydreams, but since i’ve been doing public work, it’s really important to pay attention to your surroundings, your audience and the community you’re working in. Sometimes I find that I don’t want to paint certain things that I normally put in my sketchbook for people to have to look at every day.”
Check out the gallery above to see our highlights from Lauren YS’ collection of personal awesomeness.
