Description
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work examines the complex history of women’s reproductive care and is often mixed media sculptural work that incorporates ceramics, metals, and found objects. Through these materials, I explore connections between reproductive health, bodily autonomy, and the evolving political and social landscapes that shape women’s experiences. In my previous career in the medical field, particularly the four years I spent working in a non-profit women’s healthcare clinic, I saw the many ways that access to care deeply impacts women both as individuals and as a community.
My work focuses on examining how patriarchal forces shaped women’s healthcare in the early development phases of contraception, family planning, and reproductive justice and how those forces still shape women’s health today. As a result, I create works using ceramics, metal, fiber, and cyanotype to explore the intersections of beauty, femininity, and historical memory. While the work initially appears playful and visually inviting, it gradually reveals more unsettling narratives, much like a slow injection that quietly enters the body before its full effects are realized. This deliberate shift invites viewers to move beyond surface aesthetics and confront the enduring consequences of our shared histories.
The work that I create questions the narrative regarding women’s healthcare, both throughout history, the present day, and into the future. It is meant to invite questions, build connections, and serve as a force to fight misinformation and manipulation of medical facts and information for political reasons.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Lauren Doorish is an interdisciplinary feminist artist in Denton, Texas. She is an MFA candidate in Studio Art at Texas Woman’s University and is expected to graduate in December 2027. She graduated with her bachelor’s degree from Texas Woman’s University in Multidisciplinary Studies with concentrations in Multicultural Women’s & Gender Studies and Sociology in 2016. Prior to being a professional artist, Lauren worked in healthcare administration for fifteen years, including managing at a non-profit women’s health clinic. Lauren’s work has been featured in numerous exhibitions, including the prestigious Materials Hard and Soft exhibition, Roots & Routes, Revolutionary Women, and Still RESISTing. Her work also won first prize in the John Weinkein Juried Exhibition at Texas Woman’s University, and an Honorable Mention in the Artist’s Enclave of Denton County exhibition Terra Verde.
© Lauren Doorish