01 - Exhibition Statement

Love, Laugh, L’CHAIM! is an exercise in pulling text upwards from a two dimensional plane into three dimensional forms. Constructed through a paper mache process, the material which composes the word is the substrate on which words are traditionally written. The effort required to construct words into physical space mirrors the effort required for us to speak about things when they are distant from us. I use this process as an allegory for my Jewish identity, which is not totally lost, but distanced from me, historically stripped from my family by force, and requires me to reach outwards to understand my own culture, my own identity, my own past. Because work which discusses identity often necessitates a heaviness of tone, I instead investigate these themes through kitsch and humour: how does laughter factor into survivorship?

02 - Artist Statement

Lauren Jacobson is an artist living and making in Mohkinstis (Calgary). Their work examines the way in which everyday objects direct, suggest, and force the orientation of our bodies in space. They investigate the physical and symbolic properties of objects and recontextualize these qualities in order to bring about new understandings of use. These changes are made in an effort to produce queer objects: objects that undermine dominant social ideas - particularly hierarchical, authoritative, patriarchal, and heteronormative structures.