Meet Lauren Careese Alexander | MFA Candidate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Careese Alexander and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren Careese, what habits do you feel play an important role in your life?
One habit that has led to my success is saying “yes” to anything and everything I can. Even if I feel underqualified or like I don’t want to mess with it right now. As I am pursuing my Master’s in Fine Arts Degree at Southern Methodist University (SMU), I know that saying yes to as many opportunities as I can right now will set me on the right path towards my dreams of having a life in art. I did this as an undergraduate student which in turn led to my acceptance into a graduate program, so I am hopeful that this habit will lead to something even bigger after I graduate. Plus it is fun to push yourself to try new things and to see what you will learn from those experiences.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been an artist my entire life but did not decide to pursue it professionally until I was in high school and thinking about what I wanted to go to college for. I attended the University of Texas in Tyler to study art, just an hour and a half from Dallas, where I was born and raised. While pursuing my Bachelor of Fine Art, I fell in love with ceramics. I already had a little knowledge of clay because I took a pottery class when I was younger, but it wasn’t until I was exposed to the vast world of ceramics that I decided I wanted to be a ceramicist. As an undergraduate student, I began to formulate my cloud sculptures. I was feeling homesick one afternoon, and as I was walking back to my dorm from class I looked up and saw these huge, billowing clouds hanging overhead. I was immediately transported back to my parent’s 7th-floor loft in Downtown Dallas and felt comforted by the idea that clouds are something that we all can see no matter what part of the world we are in. Now I continue to utilize cloud forms in my art because I am also captivated by the fleeting nature of clouds in comparison to the fleeting nature of happiness. This mindset led to my desire to create work that captures my happiest memories and experiences within these odd abstracted cloud sculptures. I choose to use clay still because it is an extremely sturdy material. I like playing around with capturing the ephemeral in a material that endures. I like that my work is displaying the things that bring me joy so that I can look back at them later, like saving them for a rainy day.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would hope that they are visiting during State Fair season because I absolutely love going to the State Fair with friends and family. There is just so much to do and experience and it is always so much fun. Growing up in Dallas means that going to the fair is an absolute necessity for me! Other than that, I like to keep things pretty simple. I love going jogging and going on walks on the Katy Trail where it feels like a little pocket of nature hidden within the busy city. I also love getting food from somewhere on the more affordable end, like pizza from Costco or a burger from Whataburger, and then taking it to eat at Bachman Lake, where airplanes from the Lovefield Airport fly overhead. Another favorite is getting snowcones from the snow cone shop SNO off of 75, where they sell my favorite mangonada snowcone. Dallas also has so many different museums and fun places to visit. Some personal favorites are the Dallas Museum of Art, the Farmer’s Market, Texas Discovery Gardens, the Bath House Cultural Center, Old City Park, and the Dallas Arboretum. I like to keep a lookout for art galleries as well because Dallas is home to so many different galleries and has such a large artist presence so there are constantly art shows taking place. Lastly, when night falls, one of my favorite things to do with people is drive through downtown Dallas and just take in the lights and sounds of city life, especially on a cool fall afternoon with the windows rolled down.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I am grateful for so many people who have helped me throughout my life. However, my biggest supporters have always been my parents. They were always the type of parents to support my dreams, no matter what. Most parents would have discouraged me from pursuing a career in the arts since it traditionally does not make much money, but I am lucky enough to have parents that support my art. This support isn’t just verbal either. My parents have helped me pack up artwork to ship to exhibitions, driven my work to drop off at galleries, showed up to as many of my shows as they can, helped me paint sections of more significant projects that I could not have done on my own, encouraged and comforted me during times where I felt like giving up, and are just there for me through every aspect of my journey. Even now as I am in graduate school, they are letting me live with them since our home is close to my university. I am so blessed to have parents that support my artistic endeavors in such an encouraging way.

Website: laurencareese.com

Instagram: laurencareese.art

Youtube: Lauren Careese

Image Credits
All images were photographed by me, they are all of my work.