Devices for Filling a Void
~4x3x3"

Devices for Filling a Void, combines a jewelry vocabulary with forms reminiscent of reconstructive surgical devices and body-like growths. Rather than presenting or holding the body in an ideal position, they distort the body through actions that are sometimes grotesque or violent. This body of work explores the realities of the body as a fleshy and malleable form, one that often rejects attempts to be controlled or contained. The objects literally fill the voids of the body, but the forms also imply a psychological filling of emotional or erotic voids. The work points to and questions social constructions that frame women being incomplete or lacking, requiring augmentation by men, objects, dress, makeup and adornment.

Devices for Filling a Void
~4x3x3"

Devices for Filling a Void, combines a jewelry vocabulary with forms reminiscent of reconstructive surgical devices and body-like growths. Rather than presenting or holding the body in an ideal position, they distort the body through actions that are sometimes grotesque or violent. This body of work explores the realities of the body as a fleshy and malleable form, one that often rejects attempts to be controlled or contained. The objects literally fill the voids of the body, but the forms also imply a psychological filling of emotional or erotic voids. The work points to and questions social constructions that frame women being incomplete or lacking, requiring augmentation by men, objects, dress, makeup and adornment.

My performance-based work is often framed within or in relation to the craft discipline. I work with craft materials as a strategic choice, because of their strong tie to the body through their proximity to bodies through jewelry, domestic objects, cutlery, vessels, hygiene implements, and clothing. I use performances primarily of my female body in relationship to wearable objects and/or functional objects. The body is the site for these performative interactions. I use a variety of methods in my work including traditionally fabricated metal objects, textiles, glass, and ceramics folded together with installation, digital fabrication, performance, photography, and video.

My performance-based work is often framed within or in relation to the craft discipline. I work with craft materials as a strategic choice, because of their strong tie to the body through their proximity to bodies through jewelry, domestic objects, cutlery, vessels, hygiene implements, and clothing. I use performances primarily of my female body in relationship to wearable objects and/or functional objects. The body is the site for these performative interactions. I use a variety of methods in my work including traditionally fabricated metal objects, textiles, glass, and ceramics folded together with installation, digital fabrication, performance, photography, and video.

My performance-based work is often framed within or in relation to the craft discipline. I work with craft materials as a strategic choice, because of their strong tie to the body through their proximity to bodies through jewelry, domestic objects, cutlery, vessels, hygiene implements, and clothing. I use performances primarily of my female body in relationship to wearable objects and/or functional objects. The body is the site for these performative interactions. I use a variety of methods in my work including traditionally fabricated metal objects, textiles, glass, and ceramics folded together with installation, digital fabrication, performance, photography, and video.

Lauren Kalman is a visual artist based in Detroit, whose practice is rooted in craft, sculpture, video, photography and performance. 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 is in the permanent collection of the Françoise van den Bosch Foundation at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Renwick Gallery at Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Detroit Institute of Art, Museum of Arts and Design, and the Korean Ceramics Foundation. 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 is currently a Professor and the Chair of the Department of Art, Art History, and Design at Wayne State University in Detroit.