Lauren Kussro

Biography

Kussro attended the Herron School of Art & Design in Indianapolis for her undergraduate studies, earning a BFA in painting and printmaking in 2003.  In 2006, she completed her MFA degree in printmaking at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.  

Kussro's work has been shown in various locations around the country, including solo exhibitions at the Nashville International Airport, Twist Gallery, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, as well as group exhibitions at Kai Lin Art in Atlanta, the Dadian Gallery in Washington D.C., and the Manhattan Graphics Center in New York.  Her work has also been included in group exhibitions in both India and China.  Her creative process is centered in a playful investigation of the natural world and frequently features combinations of printmaking, sculpture and sewing.

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Areas of Expertise

• Printmaking
• Lithography
• Etching
• Silkscreen
• Relief
• Monotype
• Drawing & Painting

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Courses (Current Academic Year)

Beginning Printmaking
Advanced Printmaking
Drawing Foundations

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Research Projects

I'm an explorer.  Navigating terrain and documenting botanical and geological matter, I'm looking for clues, details that get missed or forgotten.  I hold them up to see what they point to and what they convey.

From the micro to the macro, the natural world provides me with a variety of environments and organisms to investigate and study, and I find perpetual inspiration in seeing how everything is connected and how it works.  Systems existing in clusters or groups hold particular interest for me because of the way individual bodies come together to build a larger whole.  I use references like densely textured coral reefs or interlocking cellular structures as a springboard, a place to start creating my own forms--which are playful but complex.

Through my chosen media of printmaking, sewing and sculpture, I create richly detailed and often textured surfaces that feature jewel-like colors, building in each piece a visual investment of time and reflecting the authenticity of nature.

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Awards and Accomplishments

2015 Purchase Award - International Mini Print Exhibition, Manhattan Graphics Center, New York, NY
2012-2103 Artist-in Residence - Juried studio residency, Stutz Artists Association, Indianapolis, IN
2008 Artist-in-Residence - Juried residency, Anchor Graphics, Chicago, IL
2007 Best in Show - Art Source, Phoenix Gallery, Knoxville, TN
2007 Merit Award - Alumni Show, Herron School of Art & Design, Indianapolis, IN
1999 and 2002 The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant - Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation, Montreal, Canada

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