“Lauren is sublimely articulate about her inspiration, her study, and her realization. In her conversation, passion, and artistic creation, she evinces a mastery of the Spider Woman teachings which has uniquely prepared her to express a new articulation of the sacred teaching of wholeness. Like the ‘Spider Woman’ herself, Lauren has become one with the work of her hands."
Sarah Gorman, Director, THE CREATIVE SPIRIT CENTER, Midland, Michigan
Lauren’s interest in masks derives from a long interest in her life-long devotion to mythology. She believes that by exploring myth in contemporary ways we activate ancient taproots that can sustain us into the future. “The stories of our lives join a river of universal stories, threads that recede into unknown beginnings, and threads that we ourselves are weaving for those who are yet to come.” The shrines and icons Lauren creates are material representations of this evolutionary process.
John Salgado, Co-Director, RAICES TELLER GALLERY, Tucson, AZ
"The masks of the goddess workshop was a pivotal event in my life. I have been feeling the Goddesses waking up ever since....they were there, definitely there."
Lorraine Hogan, KRIPALU WORKSHOP Participant
"Lauren probes the limits of whatever medium she addresses. The questions her art raises are deeply significant questions."
Robin Larsen, Co-Director, THE CENTER FOR SYMBOLIC STUDIES
I’ve always seen masks as "vessels for our stories", and I’ve derived inspiration from mythology, collective Story. When I went to Bali to study temple mask traditions I was privileged to produce collaborative masks with Balinese master mask makers while there. Inspired, in 1999 I created 30 multicultural Masks of the Goddess for the Spiral Dance in San Francisco, designed to be contemporary "Temple Masks". As I researched multi-cultural mythologies of the "Feminine Faces of Diety" from around the world, I found myself in a grand conversation that grew as others used the masks, filling them with energy and new meaning.
Art process for me is a spiritual practice. I have made many devotional works I call "Earth Shrines", part of a lifelong conversation with the numinous intelligence in nature. My desire to explore that experience with others became a series of masks called “Numina: Masks for the Elemental Powers”, inspired by the Roman concept of Genius Loci, “Spirit of Place”.
Last, because I live in the Southwest, I’ve been inspired by the presence of the native American Creatrix, Spider Woman, found among the Navajo and the Pueblo peoples, as well as throughout the Americas. I believe this ubiquitous myth has important meaning for our time. In 2007 I won an Aldon Dow fellowship and a Puffin grant to pursue "Spider Woman's Hands" as a community arts project, and in 2009 pursued my project as resident artist at the Henry Luce Center for the Arts at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
Among the Navajo (Dine`) traditionally a bit of spider web was rubbed into the hands of infant girls, so they will become "good weavers". May we all rub a bit of spider web into our hands now.
Lauren
www.laurenraine.com
www.masksofthegoddess.com
Art process for me is a spiritual practice. I have made many devotional works I call "Earth Shrines", part of a lifelong conversation with the numinous intelligence in nature. My desire to explore that experience with others became a series of masks called “Numina: Masks for the Elemental Powers”, inspired by the Roman concept of Genius Loci, “Spirit of Place”.
Last, because I live in the Southwest, I’ve been inspired by the presence of the native American Creatrix, Spider Woman, found among the Navajo and the Pueblo peoples, as well as throughout the Americas. I believe this ubiquitous myth has important meaning for our time. In 2007 I won an Aldon Dow fellowship and a Puffin grant to pursue "Spider Woman's Hands" as a community arts project, and in 2009 pursued my project as resident artist at the Henry Luce Center for the Arts at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
Among the Navajo (Dine`) traditionally a bit of spider web was rubbed into the hands of infant girls, so they will become "good weavers". May we all rub a bit of spider web into our hands now.
Lauren
www.laurenraine.com
www.masksofthegoddess.com