Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Lauren Sukany. I work as a professional during the day and then I go home and work in my studio. I am an artist and I mostly paint, draw, and print.

Why do you do what you do?
I am a creative person who uses art, writing, and music to make sense of the world.

What art do you most identify with?
Paintings. I understand paintings (brush stroke, color, and composition). I also respond emotionally to music.

What’s your background?
I am from Arkansas. I graduated from an arts/science magnet high school; I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in printmaking from Missouri State University; I received my Master of Arts in painting from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. I have been in a band with my spouse since 2006. I have worked with the Adobe Creative Suite and graphic design in a professional setting since 2010.

What has been a seminal experience?
Responding to God’s calling for me – salvation and living in His will.

Explain what you do in 100 words.
I paint on canvas (oil and acrylics), draw (charcoal, graphite, ink, colored pencil), work with printmaking (etchings, drypoint, woodcuts, linoleum cuts, monoprinting, lithography), papermaking, work with fabrics, play music (vocals, guitar, banjo, bass guitar, drums, accordion, concertina, cello, melodica, glockenspiel, piano), work in graphic design and layout (adobe creative suite), and I also write short stories. My process begins with research and experience. Once inspired, I sketch or write my ideas and work with the appropriate medium to complete the work.  Upon completion, I photograph and document the work. I place on my website and social media.

How do you work?
I work with a to-do list and deadlines.

How has your practice changed over time?
I am less concerned with “being deep” or creating something “no one has ever seen or experienced before” and am able to focus on what I want to accomplish in the studio in what period of time (day, week, month).

What work do you most enjoy doing?
I think I am a printmaker at heart, so I really enjoy series of things (writing and completing a series of songs to go in an album, creating a theme for a series of paintings or drawings, etc.).

What themes do you pursue?
Figures, daily life, making the mundane of daily life extraordinary or whimsical or at least interesting. I don’t think I even think about doing this. I just see people talking and I imagine that there is more there, and that is what I render – their “secret” selves.

What’s your strongest memory of your childhood?
Straightening my mothers shoes. Coloring at my grandmothers house. Coloring in my aunts basement in St. Louis. I remember crying a lot.

What’s your scariest experience?
I am a parasominiac, so that can be very frightening at times.

What’s your favorite artwork?
I have a deck of Edward Hopper playing cards that I have become very fond of over the years. I just love the greens he uses.

What role does the artist have in society?
To attempt to move ones soul.

What is integral to the work of an artist?
Living a fine line between routine and spontaneity.