Artist Bio:

Lauren Ward (b.1992, New Mexico) is an artist, mother, advocate, and junior at Brown University. Her work’s been exhibited at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brown University, Harvard University, and numerous locations throughout Chicago and Rhode Island. In June 2025, Ward was an artist in residence at The Creative Reuse Center of Rhode Island. Earlier in the year, she was awarded second place at Brown’s 45th Annual Student Juried exhibition, as well as the Marlene Malik Sculpture Fellowship. 

Ward is a Sexual Assault Prevention Education (SAPE) Coordinator at Brown, as well as a teaching assistant for the sculpture department.

Her artwork is on display at Gallery X in New Bedford, MA.

Artist Statement:

My life and my art are one in the same–  they live together, inspiring and relying upon each other to continue. That inspiration is how I live, how I grow, because it gives me a reason to wake up in the morning. My daughter is my life and she inspires me forever. She shows me my strength and it’s terrifying! Making art is much easier than being a mom, but becoming a mom is the best thing that ever happened to me, so I love making art about it. I crawled out of hell with a baby and I still love to make people laugh.

I explore the love tangles and lessons of womanhood, trauma, grief, spirituality, and angst through the art I make. Faith gives me life and I am endlessly curious about how people’s minds work. 

I LOVE painting with oils, but I love making more than anything else, so I’ll never be stopped. 

You can find me painting, sewing, washing, mixing, gluing, sticking, ripping, cutting, drawing, rubbing, building, nailing, carrying, welding, collecting, filming, editing, collaging, molding, writing and thinking thinking thinking…….and looking looking looking and praying praying praying and laughing, dancing and crying too and taking care of my baby who I love so so much! I also really love dogs, all animals really, but I have a lot of experience with dogs especially. Dogs are the best listeners, I want to be able to listen like dogs do.

I hope to empower those who resonate with the stories I tell. Love is everything to me, love is what I believe in. In the words of Slug, “When Life Gives You Lemons You Paint That Shit Gold”.

~~Virgo Sun, Cancer Moon, Cancer Rising~~