Lauren Ike

Lauren Iacoponi is a Chicago based fiber artist. Her interest in art began at a young age, though her style has changed drastically over the years. Lauren has taken courses in fine art since 2007 when she first began the High School Summer Institute at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. In 2009 she studied Studio Art and Vocal Performance at the Chicago Academy for the Arts. Lauren received her Bachelor's in Fine Art with a Minor in Art History from Columbia College May of 2014. She is currently a candidate for a Masters in Fine Art at Northern Illinois University where she received a Graduate Research Assistant Position with a tuition waiver. She will receive her Teaching Certificate in Art History along with her MFA in Spring of 2018. Lauren is a recent recipient of the Northern Illinois University Fellowship for the School of Art and Design. In addition to being a graduate student, she is the instructor of record for 3D Foundations, teaching contemporary design to undergraduate students. Recent highlights include group exhibitions at Chicago's A+D Gallery, C-33 Gallery, Hokin Gallery, Studio Oh!, Elephant Room, Inc., Beverly Arts Center and Zhou B Art Center. Lauren has an upcoming solo exhibition at the University Club of Chicago in 2018. In addition to being an up-and-coming artist in Chicago's art scene, Lauren also writes for “DEFINEART” the Chicago-based art blog as well as being a contributing author for “Discovering Art in Chicago", “Third Coast Review”, and "Odyssey." Lauren is a prominent member of the Wabash Arts Corridor Advisory Board, where as a board member she initiated the successful Kickstarter campaign funding “Descending to Heaven”, a twenty-four by fifty-six foot photo mural for the Wabash Arts Corridor located at 710 S. Wabash. Lauren is exploring what it means to be post-modernist through recent work. Where one series references modern painting, another focuses on autobiographical themes utilizing personal belongings and hand-embroidered poetry. Lauren is enrolled in both rigorous studio based classes and contemporary art history courses; expanding her knowledge of contemporary art history through critical discourse that best informs her work.