Lauren Mclean

 

Rarely is wood used to express such personal experiences Lauren Mclean has used pyrography to document her baby scans before and after miscarriage, 

"Over the past year, my artistic practice has been a deeply personal exploration of the complex emotions that surfaced following my miscarriage. My creative approach has been multi-faceted, with some pieces directly confronting my emotions and unrest, while others have taken a more intricate and elaborate approach to depicting my experience. In essence, every artwork I created serves as a visual documentation of my personal evolution towards accepting and comprehending the loss I experienced. They represent the emotional journey that I underwent, each piece capturing a moment in time as I moved toward a place of healing and understanding. My artistic journey this year involved an exploration of various materials and techniques; this experimentation was critical in allowing me to find new and innovative ways to express the intensity of my emotions and process my grief. As I delved deeper into my artistic practice, I began to recognise the significance of the materials I was using and their connection to my themes. In particular, I started using wood to symbolise growth and as a representation of the development of a growing baby. The intricate patterns in the wood's grain resembled the rings of a tree, introducing themes of vitality, growth, and transformation. The knots in the wood took on the appearance of embryos, creating a visual link between the natural material and the idea of new life. The use of wood in this way helped me to develop a more profound connection to the themes of my artwork and strengthened the emotional impact of my pieces." Lauren Mclean