Lauren Sauder | Art Crush xo
Who are you and where are you from?
I am a pigment worker and landscape artist currently located in Maryland, USA. While I never traced myself to one specific location, Philadelphia was the first home that made me reflect on what it means to be native to a place. My closest people come from the Sicilian Islands, something I am exploring more intimately.
Is creating art your passion and/or your profession?
Pigment work is a little more than a passion — it’s a deep-seated relationship, a connection to nature. It shares many conversations with me, a place to find reflection, and heal. I feel this sense of connection to generations past and to mother earth, as stories move throughout my gathered rocks, dirt, and soil.
How did you get into doing it?
The landscapes are vast, I know they move many people. For me, I experienced several profound moments in these natural places. After years of documenting, conversing about, and working with many landscape people, I began carefully collecting specimens. Natural ochre revealed itself to me and it was like mother earth was inviting me to learn from her.
What can working with natural color teach you? What do you think it teaches others who purchase your work?
Natural color and raw pigments teach a lot about curiosity and being a part of a process that has its own language. My materials are very much alive, and thus need to be treated as such. I often let these dialogues take place in my studio so I can learn. I hope that those who purchase my work feel these stories. I want to inspire slowness and reverence for the natural world.
What is your driving force?
I am driven by the natural world — the earth and her beauty. I think she has a way of holding all the stories of people past and teaching the next generation lessons of connection, resilience, healing.
What is your current inspiration?
Inspiration comes from being. And not just my being but the being of all the life around me — the trees, native plants, the Chesapeake Bay, etc. I am an avid writer and keep a continuous dialogue of my world. I make marks when my hands move in that direction. I also read a lot, and appreciate reflection.
What kind of work you do and why?
I’ve always considered myself an artist who draws, although, my work is created from both handmade pastels and handmade watercolors. To me, it’s all ochre, raw pigments I can push and pull over a rugged, cotton surface, leaving marks and impressions of my conversations with the natural world.
Is there something fun that’s currently inspiring you?
I am in the midst of celebrating A Geology of Color, a book I wrote about the process of collecting, identifying, and using earth pigments. It’s an artist’s field guide. I am also preparing to release my handmade pastels, a gift I cannot wait to share.
