My work in general has been concerned with mutation, otherness, and disease, specifically as it relates to the environment and the human impact upon it. Aesthetically, I balance on an uncomfortable and careful line between the beautiful and grotesque, between cute and creepy. I seek to seduce and repel the viewer simultaneously, drawing them in via surface treatment, color, or humor in order to explore the unsettling facts about the world we live in now. I am searching for the unknowable, or as Freud named it, the uncanny.
Employing a wide range of materials and techniques, my choices are motivated by their ability to convey material meaning that is relevant to the ideas I am exploring. From bacteria to bees, electronics to oil paint, nothing is off limits in my lexicon; new materials are exciting points of discovery. I find interest in the space between things where connections can be discovered, in the clash of different materials together. In comics, the space between panels is where the action occurs; similarly, the space between ideas is where meaning is made for me.
For several years my practice has been driven by an exploration into transgenic mutation, creating chimeric animals and plants that I imagined as bioengineered out of Styrofoam, fiberglass, and automotive paint. My current research involves exploring environmental causes of cancer, the colony collapse disorder afflicting bees, investigating nuclear and radiation issues, and illustrating the role of propaganda in our dialogue about environmental issues. My work is often political, but I strive to never be didactic; to me, the questions and dialogue surrounding the issues are far more fruitful than any answers I might propose.
I am a news junkie. My inspiration is propelled by my horror at what I see and read about daily, and yet, I am still a maker, transfixed by materials and the transformational impact of the hand. So while I am naturally driven to create intuitively, I fight against the impulse to make pretty objects devoid of meaning. What I want to make and what I need to make are often two different things.
Lauri Lynnxe Murphy 