Artist Feature: Lorien Stern

The animal heads have many ideas and themes behind them, but most importantly animals are a symbol of comfort to me. Originating back to 1999 when my father passed away and within the year after his death I adopted 7 cats; he was very allergic to cats. The cats became my best friends and really helped me through the process. For my most recent show, my solo senior exhibition, Stern Kammer, I created a space that was a tomb for all of my family members who had died. The animal heads from that show are symbolic of guardians and guides of the afterlife. Each head has personal meanings attached, but I also intended for them to be approachable and identifiable to the viewer.

For a lot of my work I like to disarm things that scare me or seem unapproachable, especially the theme of death and sharks. I am terrified of sharks and feel like they come from an alien planet. They also really fascinate me and remind me of my brother who loves the sea and is caught every free weekend he has sailing. This is my way of getting close to the creature, without having to swim with it.

Well, I always loved to draw, I started painting in middle school, and continued to paint through out highschool. I ended up going to California College of the Arts in Oakland and began my studies there as a painting major. After being at the school for two semesters I became enamored by all of their facilities, especially screen printing, stop motion animation, the wood shop, and last, but not least, ceramics. I changed my major to "Individualized" and settled into a studio in the ceramics building.

Find out more about Lorien Stern at www.lorienstern.com.