Mexican artist Lauren Fortoul, second place in the contest, transforms stagnation into hope through digital photography.
For Lauren Fortoul, her work FUTURE / PRESENT / PAST was born out of a very personal need: to illuminate that feeling of stagnation that we can all experience at some point in life. With an introspective gaze, the artist invites the viewer to reflect on how the decisions we make today and the way we reinterpret our past shape our future.
"I wanted to give the viewer a sense of hope and empowerment - and also remind myself. It all depends on the interpretation we choose to give the past and the actions we take in the present," explains Lauren.
Her creative process always starts with an internal conflict or a recurring situation she observes around her. From there, she synthesizes the idea into a word or phrase and builds a visual universe through references gathered from Pinterest, walks, movies, books or exhibitions. The result in this case was a minimalist, reflective and contemplative digital composition, created with Adobe Photoshop, photographs taken with his Sony a7 iii camera and a simple white background.
Discover the full interview with Lauren Fortoul on Domestika's blog to learn more about how she maintains her authenticity, the routines that nurture her creativity and the artists that inspire her.
-Can you tell us what inspired you to create the winning project? What story or emotion did you want to convey?
I was inspired by the concern to shed light on the feeling of stagnation that we experience at some point in life.
I want to give the viewer a feeling of hope and empowerment, to do so and make me remember that it depends on the interpretation we decide to give to the past and the actions we take in the present that will shape our future.
- What is your process for developing original ideas from scratch?
It all starts with the need to transform or shed light on an internal conflict, either my own or a recurring situation I observe around me.
I synthesize the concept in a phrase or a word.
I look for visual references in Pinterest and in information that I collect from walks, movies, series, books and exhibitions.
I make several digital collages, until I reach a feasible idea.
- Do you start with a sketch, an inspiration board or something else?
I start with a digital sketch
- How would you define your style and how has it evolved?
Currently I would define it as minimalist, reflective and contemplative, previously it was loaded and confusing.
- What tools or techniques did you use to bring your project to life (traditional, digital, mixed media, etc.)?
The technique I used is digital
- Adobe Photoshop (main software) Main tool for image composition, manipulation and editing.
- Collections of images pulled from Pinterest for reference collages.
- Sony a7 iii camera
- Tripod
- White background ( a wall )