[Music]
when TEDx first announced that I was
going to be participating in this year’s
event it was done through an Instagram
album post you all knows how those work
flipped through them and it showed up
like this first there was a photo of
mark who’s a CEO in a white collared
shirt and then there was a photo of
Eugenia who’s a CEO with a PhD in a
white collared shirt and then there was
me in a backwards hat and a crop top
covered in paint on a beach in Mexico
and my first thought was Lauren like
could you maybe have provided a more
professional looking photo and my second
thought was Lauren what the heck are you
doing who are you to do this you don’t
have a PhD you probably don’t even have
a white collared shirt and my third
thought was oh my goodness I I really
just want to be on a beach in Mexico so
in case my photo didn’t make it totally
obvious and probably the interim
introduction but I am an artist and
that’s the term that can encompass a
whole bunch of different things which
for me it definitely does
I’ve used art as a jumping-off point to
do a lot of different things all over
the over the place so when the theme of
this year which is panorama as you all
know was presented to me I was like
amazing this I can totally talk on this
this 360 degree view actually actually
relates to how I approached my art and
all of the different things I do around
it and I was excited and then the panic
and the self-doubt and all that kicked
in I think this is actually a pretty
common cycle for a lot of artists in our
artistic process as well this really
it’s like big excitement about our
plethora of ideas followed by a bout of
self-doubt followed by the side that
wait maybe everything I’ve ever made is
actually crap and questioning our
wardrobe choices wanting to want to run
away etc now unfortunately because
the messages that we’ve had ingrained in
us by society this questioning of our
authority and value is only more of an
issue often for women of course for
women of color trans and non-binary
folks and people of different abilities
this is this can only be more compounded
I promise I’m not trying to scare you
out of becoming an artist the world and
maybe your parents might be trying to do
that already what I am trying to scare
you into is valuing artists because it
is so important that we know the worth
of artists and art and that whether
you’re an artist or not the most
important thing is knowing your own
worth I wrote this bet and I realized
that I was maybe starting to sound a
little bit self healthy and fair with me
because it’s not going to stop here but
art and self-help and art and therapy
are not unrelated I we need art we all
need art art can can can help us as
artists to work through emotions it can
help us to figure out how we’re dealing
with different things that are going on
in the world and people who are not
artists need art as well to figure these
things out we need art we need people
like Mark and Eugenia we need people who
are going to write code and cure
diseases and manage money me and because
we live in this system called capitalism
you guys are gonna fix that right no
pressure but because we do we also kind
of need them to buy our art but I
promise that they really do need us to
because art like I said can be a way for
people who are experiencing it to work
through these things as well art can can
bring some Beauty to dark times
it can expose darkness and the problems
that we need to overcome both personally
and in society and that I think is
extremely valuable
on a less existential level art can also
just make things look really cool so
what I didn’t mean that
art can make sense look really cool
there’s me one of the things that a lot
of what I do as an artist is probably
exactly what you think of an artist is
doing which is sitting in my studio
alone making a mass painting and drawing
stressing it looks like here I do I do
that a lot but one of the things I tell
people that I do because it’s the most
job ish job of the things that I do is
illustration so even within that title I
do a whole bunch of different things I
do make images for books and magazines
and product and murals and events but
what makes it illustration is that a
client will come to me with an something
that they want conveyed through art so a
story that is there is that I’m
translating into art or a thought or a
feeling or sometimes they just want to
make something look really cool with my
own artwork however I am I am in total
control of what that story is what the
thought or the feeling or the emotion
that I want to convey is and a lot of
artists will tell you that it’s they
have to make art but it’s a deep desire
in them and it’s in them then they have
to get it out and I feel like that too I
have always had this desire to use art
as a way to
my thoughts my feelings and my ideas but
also especially as a person with some
amount of privilege
I’ve also felt a deep desire always to
try to do some good in the world while
I’m at it not every story is my story to
tell and I found that whether it’s
within art or not one of the best places
to start with is with yourself some of
my favorite artists have really made the
world a better place just by putting
their artwork out into it and any
artwork that questions life or brings
Beauty to it or or tackles issues is
important so I’ve learned that one of
the best places to start is by being
vulnerable and being truthful telling
your own truth and your own story your
own fantasies our fears and then outside
of that working in ways to help others
to tell theirs so I came across this
quote last week which is something that
Jenny Nicholas wrote and I felt like it
really encompassed this for me
everything you are moving through out in
the world you are also moving through
deep within yourself so this is
something that I feel like wrapped up
well the some of the things that I
really relate to in my work but also the
fact that I just quoted my horoscope
from last week in a TEDx talk really is
also me embracing this Yourself theme it
can take a long time and making a lot of
mistakes and honestly making a lot of
really bad artwork to really find your
style and your voice and I still make a
lot of crap all the time but one of the
things or two of the things two
contrasting elements that are pretty
have become pretty consistent in my work
are these very fine detailed lines which
I have realized can have come to I’ve
come to realize represent often to me
that I
dia of control or for obsession
sometimes and there contrasted with this
really light flowy abstract acrylic ink
which I’ve realized helps allow me to
let go of that control so the ink can
feel almost therapeutic putting down
like running this brush through the
water and the ink bleeding into the
water just is very freeing and in the
therapeutic for me and just helps to let
go I’ve realized that that helps me to
let go from the very tiny meticulous
line work and this is a metaphor of
course I’m an artist after all and we
love our metaphors but learning to let
go can be just as important or close to
as important as learning the value of
artists it allows us to get out of our
own headspace I find that working alone
all the time I’m often at my desk
obsessing over tiny little details and
sometimes one of the best things for me
to do is actually just physically get
out of my space
you know if I’m really lucky even out of
the city and if I’m extremely lucky to a
beach by the ocean the ocean for me is
like the ultimate of that ink pool
therapy but aside from doing that if
that’s not available then just getting
out of my own work space and going to
work with other people so in 2007 my
friend Natalie and I co-founded an arts
and environmental organization called
the about page collective and we later
went on to collaborate with a few other
local organizations to plan this project
a rooftop garden project called the
everything works now for various boring
reasons we had to let go of the idea
of that specific project becoming a
reality at that point in time but
through that process we were able to
work on a lot of different projects that
involved giving artists opportunities to
collaborate with different people
working in all different capacities and
some really beautiful things came out of
that so we collaborated with artists and
urban farmers to turn these green houses
into galleries for an event space and
then we worked with Scott Street
involved in homeless youth to build
these reclaimed materials based
sculptures that were installed in
different food gardens around the city
so working with all of these different
people from different backgrounds in
different capacities really helped cross
pollinate and we brought art to people
in spaces that maybe normally would not
have gone to a gallery to see it and
then gallery folks were interested in
sustainability initiatives and growing
their own food and where their food came
from so recently I was asked to
coordinate to curate this live mural
event for a charitable party outdoors
this summer and it was one of the best
experiences of my summer I got to
collaborate with my friend Ben on this
big mural and work alongside one of my
other favorite artists Nestle but one of
my favorite parts about it was seeing
Sabanci lamenting go from doing her from
being hesitant to participate because
she’d never done a mural before to pull
off this amazing huge piece on the side
of the building for this big event it’s
one of my favorite things ever is just
to see what happens when you give an
artist an opportunity to do something
that they’ve never done before
every artist will approach a different
situation with a totally unique lens and
that approach is something that makes us
so valuable to the CEO
and the phd’s of the world I really
believe that we we learn so much from
people who have different experiences
than us up for instance I’m here with
stowing my my wisdom on you but I don’t
necessarily think of myself as any
different from you for one I still have
a hard time thinking of myself as not a
teenager anymore but also I am just as
inspired by everything that you guys do
I am endlessly inspired by teenage girls
especially you guys come at things with
a whole new perspective and that
perspective is so valuable so I’m not
gonna lie to you when you get out of
school you’re probably going to have to
do some work that doesn’t pay you any
money to help get yourself out there but
you have to continue to value your own
Worth and in any exchange that you take
part in just take account of whether you
are you are being valued as much as
you’re giving and as much as you are
contributing to the situation so know
your own work and be yourself let your
real self shine where your backwards had
and your crop top you guys are like we
don’t wear that that’s not cool
but do your own thing and let your real
selves out there and and know your own
worth and collaborate your real self is
going to be valuable to both yourself
and your collaborators collaborate with
artists and know their worth if you’re
an artist collaborate with other artists
and collaborate with carpenters and
scientists and cooks collaborate with
mark and Eugenia they’re out there
somewhere being like how do we get roped
into this but collaborate and learn to
like though learn to let go of the idea
that any of those jobs or titles I just
mentioned are any more worthy than any
other like over your inhibitions like of
ideas of feelings of inferiority or
superiority and
I’m realized that I’m probably not going
to cure any diseases or change the
technological course of the world in my
lifetime but you out here with all of
your collaborating and knowing each
other’s Worth will definitely do great
things
I might not save the world in the way
that I once hoped that I would
contribute to but you guys have so much
opportunity to do so many things to help
save it and in the meantime I’m going to
continue try to to try to do some good
by continuing to make authentic work and
to believe in and support and lift up
artists and friends and it has luckily
to have it there’s timing just so worked
out that I actually get to leave here
right from today and go let go by that
big ink cool that is the ocean
[Applause]
[Music]
when TEDx first announced that I was
going to be participating in this year’s
event it was done through an Instagram
album post you all knows how those work
flipped through them and it showed up
like this first there was a photo of
mark who’s a CEO in a white collared
shirt and then there was a photo of
Eugenia who’s a CEO with a PhD in a
white collared shirt and then there was
me in a backwards hat and a crop top
covered in paint on a beach in Mexico
and my first thought was Lauren like
could you maybe have provided a more
professional looking photo and my second
thought was Lauren what the heck are you
doing who are you to do this you don’t
have a PhD you probably don’t even have
a white collared shirt and my third
thought was oh my goodness I I really
just want to be on a beach in Mexico so
in case my photo didn’t make it totally
obvious and probably the interim
introduction but I am an artist and
that’s the term that can encompass a
whole bunch of different things which
for me it definitely does
I’ve used art as a jumping-off point to
do a lot of different things all over
the over the place so when the theme of
this year which is panorama as you all
know was presented to me I was like
amazing this I can totally talk on this
this 360 degree view actually actually
relates to how I approached my art and
all of the different things I do around
it and I was excited and then the panic
and the self-doubt and all that kicked
in I think this is actually a pretty
common cycle for a lot of artists in our
artistic process as well this really
it’s like big excitement about our
plethora of ideas followed by a bout of
self-doubt followed by the side that
wait maybe everything I’ve ever made is
actually crap and questioning our
wardrobe choices wanting to want to run
away etc now unfortunately because
the messages that we’ve had ingrained in
us by society this questioning of our
authority and value is only more of an
issue often for women of course for
women of color trans and non-binary
folks and people of different abilities
this is this can only be more compounded
I promise I’m not trying to scare you
out of becoming an artist the world and
maybe your parents might be trying to do
that already what I am trying to scare
you into is valuing artists because it
is so important that we know the worth
of artists and art and that whether
you’re an artist or not the most
important thing is knowing your own
worth I wrote this bet and I realized
that I was maybe starting to sound a
little bit self healthy and fair with me
because it’s not going to stop here but
art and self-help and art and therapy
are not unrelated I we need art we all
need art art can can can help us as
artists to work through emotions it can
help us to figure out how we’re dealing
with different things that are going on
in the world and people who are not
artists need art as well to figure these
things out we need art we need people
like Mark and Eugenia we need people who
are going to write code and cure
diseases and manage money me and because
we live in this system called capitalism
you guys are gonna fix that right no
pressure but because we do we also kind
of need them to buy our art but I
promise that they really do need us to
because art like I said can be a way for
people who are experiencing it to work
through these things as well art can can
bring some Beauty to dark times
it can expose darkness and the problems
that we need to overcome both personally
and in society and that I think is
extremely valuable
on a less existential level art can also
just make things look really cool so
what I didn’t mean that
art can make sense look really cool
there’s me one of the things that a lot
of what I do as an artist is probably
exactly what you think of an artist is
doing which is sitting in my studio
alone making a mass painting and drawing
stressing it looks like here I do I do
that a lot but one of the things I tell
people that I do because it’s the most
job ish job of the things that I do is
illustration so even within that title I
do a whole bunch of different things I
do make images for books and magazines
and product and murals and events but
what makes it illustration is that a
client will come to me with an something
that they want conveyed through art so a
story that is there is that I’m
translating into art or a thought or a
feeling or sometimes they just want to
make something look really cool with my
own artwork however I am I am in total
control of what that story is what the
thought or the feeling or the emotion
that I want to convey is and a lot of
artists will tell you that it’s they
have to make art but it’s a deep desire
in them and it’s in them then they have
to get it out and I feel like that too I
have always had this desire to use art
as a way to
my thoughts my feelings and my ideas but
also especially as a person with some
amount of privilege
I’ve also felt a deep desire always to
try to do some good in the world while
I’m at it not every story is my story to
tell and I found that whether it’s
within art or not one of the best places
to start with is with yourself some of
my favorite artists have really made the
world a better place just by putting
their artwork out into it and any
artwork that questions life or brings
Beauty to it or or tackles issues is
important so I’ve learned that one of
the best places to start is by being
vulnerable and being truthful telling
your own truth and your own story your
own fantasies our fears and then outside
of that working in ways to help others
to tell theirs so I came across this
quote last week which is something that
Jenny Nicholas wrote and I felt like it
really encompassed this for me
everything you are moving through out in
the world you are also moving through
deep within yourself so this is
something that I feel like wrapped up
well the some of the things that I
really relate to in my work but also the
fact that I just quoted my horoscope
from last week in a TEDx talk really is
also me embracing this Yourself theme it
can take a long time and making a lot of
mistakes and honestly making a lot of
really bad artwork to really find your
style and your voice and I still make a
lot of crap all the time but one of the
things or two of the things two
contrasting elements that are pretty
have become pretty consistent in my work
are these very fine detailed lines which
I have realized can have come to I’ve
come to realize represent often to me
that I
dia of control or for obsession
sometimes and there contrasted with this
really light flowy abstract acrylic ink
which I’ve realized helps allow me to
let go of that control so the ink can
feel almost therapeutic putting down
like running this brush through the
water and the ink bleeding into the
water just is very freeing and in the
therapeutic for me and just helps to let
go I’ve realized that that helps me to
let go from the very tiny meticulous
line work and this is a metaphor of
course I’m an artist after all and we
love our metaphors but learning to let
go can be just as important or close to
as important as learning the value of
artists it allows us to get out of our
own headspace I find that working alone
all the time I’m often at my desk
obsessing over tiny little details and
sometimes one of the best things for me
to do is actually just physically get
out of my space
you know if I’m really lucky even out of
the city and if I’m extremely lucky to a
beach by the ocean the ocean for me is
like the ultimate of that ink pool
therapy but aside from doing that if
that’s not available then just getting
out of my own work space and going to
work with other people so in 2007 my
friend Natalie and I co-founded an arts
and environmental organization called
the about page collective and we later
went on to collaborate with a few other
local organizations to plan this project
a rooftop garden project called the
everything works now for various boring
reasons we had to let go of the idea
of that specific project becoming a
reality at that point in time but
through that process we were able to
work on a lot of different projects that
involved giving artists opportunities to
collaborate with different people
working in all different capacities and
some really beautiful things came out of
that so we collaborated with artists and
urban farmers to turn these green houses
into galleries for an event space and
then we worked with Scott Street
involved in homeless youth to build
these reclaimed materials based
sculptures that were installed in
different food gardens around the city
so working with all of these different
people from different backgrounds in
different capacities really helped cross
pollinate and we brought art to people
in spaces that maybe normally would not
have gone to a gallery to see it and
then gallery folks were interested in
sustainability initiatives and growing
their own food and where their food came
from so recently I was asked to
coordinate to curate this live mural
event for a charitable party outdoors
this summer and it was one of the best
experiences of my summer I got to
collaborate with my friend Ben on this
big mural and work alongside one of my
other favorite artists Nestle but one of
my favorite parts about it was seeing
Sabanci lamenting go from doing her from
being hesitant to participate because
she’d never done a mural before to pull
off this amazing huge piece on the side
of the building for this big event it’s
one of my favorite things ever is just
to see what happens when you give an
artist an opportunity to do something
that they’ve never done before
every artist will approach a different
situation with a totally unique lens and
that approach is something that makes us
so valuable to the CEO
and the phd’s of the world I really
believe that we we learn so much from
people who have different experiences
than us up for instance I’m here with
stowing my my wisdom on you but I don’t
necessarily think of myself as any
different from you for one I still have
a hard time thinking of myself as not a
teenager anymore but also I am just as
inspired by everything that you guys do
I am endlessly inspired by teenage girls
especially you guys come at things with
a whole new perspective and that
perspective is so valuable so I’m not
gonna lie to you when you get out of
school you’re probably going to have to
do some work that doesn’t pay you any
money to help get yourself out there but
you have to continue to value your own
Worth and in any exchange that you take
part in just take account of whether you
are you are being valued as much as
you’re giving and as much as you are
contributing to the situation so know
your own work and be yourself let your
real self shine where your backwards had
and your crop top you guys are like we
don’t wear that that’s not cool
but do your own thing and let your real
selves out there and and know your own
worth and collaborate your real self is
going to be valuable to both yourself
and your collaborators collaborate with
artists and know their worth if you’re
an artist collaborate with other artists
and collaborate with carpenters and
scientists and cooks collaborate with
mark and Eugenia they’re out there
somewhere being like how do we get roped
into this but collaborate and learn to
like though learn to let go of the idea
that any of those jobs or titles I just
mentioned are any more worthy than any
other like over your inhibitions like of
ideas of feelings of inferiority or
superiority and
I’m realized that I’m probably not going
to cure any diseases or change the
technological course of the world in my
lifetime but you out here with all of
your collaborating and knowing each
other’s Worth will definitely do great
things
I might not save the world in the way
that I once hoped that I would
contribute to but you guys have so much
opportunity to do so many things to help
save it and in the meantime I’m going to
continue try to to try to do some good
by continuing to make authentic work and
to believe in and support and lift up
artists and friends and it has luckily
to have it there’s timing just so worked
out that I actually get to leave here
right from today and go let go by that
big ink cool that is the ocean
[Applause]
[Music]
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