Lauren Kalman

Lauren Kalman is a visual artist based in Detroit, whose practice is rooted in contemporary craft, sculpture, video, photography and performance. Through performances using her body, her work investigates constructions of the ideal and the feminine and their impacts on self-image and identity, the politics of craft, and the built environment.

Raised in Cleveland, Kalman completed her PhD in Practice-led Research from the School of Art and Design at the Australian National University. She earned a MFA in Art and Technology from the Ohio State University and a BFA with a focus in Metals from Massachusetts College of Art.

Her work has been featured in exhibitions at the Renwick Gallery at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Museum of Arts and Design, Museum of Contemporary Craft, Cranbrook Art Museum, Contemporary Art Museum Houston, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Mint Museum, World Art Museum in Beijing, and the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris among others. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of Arts and Design, and the Korean Ceramics Foundation.

She has been awarded residencies at the Corning Museum of Glass, Bemis Center, Australian National University, Corporation of Yaddo, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Brush Creek Arts Foundation, and Haystack. She has received Chenven Foundation, Ludwig Vogelstein Foundation, Puffin Foundation, Puffin Foundation West, and ISE Cultural Foundation grants. In 2020 she received the Françoise van den Bosch Award for her career’s impact on the jewelry field, in 2022 she received the Raphael Founders Prize in Glass from Contemporary for Craft, and in 2023 she was named a Kresge Arts in Detroit Fellow.

She a dedicated educator and believes strongly in empowerment through education. Currently she is Professor and Chair of the Department of Art, Art History and Design at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Visit Lauren Kalman’s website and Instagram page.

I make performative objects that use my body as a tool for production and as an installation site. Through these objects my work investigates constructions of the ideal and the feminine as they relate to self-image, identity, and the built environment. My work bridges fine art, craft, and design. I use a variety of methods in my work including fabricated metal, textiles, glass, and ceramics folded together with installation, performance, photography, and video. My work often uses vernacular domestic or craft media. I work with these familiar materials and forms as a strategic choice, because of their tie to the body through their use in jewelry, domestic objects, cutlery, functional vessels, hygiene implements, and clothing.