Lauren Darrouzet
She/Her
Oakwood, OH
Lauren Darrouzet is an art jeweler and educator currently living in Dayton, Ohio. Her work explores the relationship between collecting, childhood memories, and nostalgia.
I remember the pain and the joy in discovering I was queer. This piece includes kaleidoscopic, lenticular imagery of Polly Pocket boxes – tokens of my childhood and make-believe worlds in themselves that spark my memories. The bright colors and shimmering stones pay honor the difficulty of the journey and the satisfaction of embracing queerness. Making is an important act in my life. It is the preservation of history. It gives me the freedom to explore the self – past and future. It grants me an outlet to connect with other queer people through that shared labor of self-exploration.
laurendarrouzet.com
How does your creative practice reflect your experience of living and making as a BIPOC and/or 2SLGBTQIA+ maker?
“I rely on materials collected over my lifetime to create my work. These materials spark memories of my life, allowing me to reflect on the process of becoming. As a queer person, I want to highlight and honor the difficult process of figuring out who we are. My work draws from introspection but seeks a wider community to help give it meaning.”
"Memory Palace #1" Powder-coated copper, lenticular print, acrylic, sterling silver, steel, 3.5” x 3.75” x 0.5” 2026What techniques, stories, or materials have been passed down to you, and how are you reimagining them in the present?
“I am a collector. Objects passed down to me through family or friends are prized possessions. I use these materials as inspiration for my work. I integrate their imagery, color palettes, and textures to bring together the past and the present.”
How does your work honor those who came before you while forging new pathways for the future?
“I think a lot about queer history and the privileges we now have that were hard fought and won. Being out and proud is a luxury, and not without its dangers. As I make work that honors this part of my life and references childhood, I hope others in my community feel seen and that they can see themselves in the work. I aim to embody the kind of life my younger self needed to witness to feel hopeful about the future.”
“I created the lenticular images by taking photographs of Polly Pockets I still own that were childhood favorites. I edited the images into kaleidoscopic scenes that transition back and forth. Like much of my work, they remind me of the haziness of memory and our lack of ability to perfectly capture time. The outer border of the brooch is taken from the flower-shaped Polly Pocket box and repeated to mimic the imagery. Polly Pockets contain an entire world, free for our imaginations to create. It is a portable symbol of self that I carried with me, hopeful that the future could bring me the agency I so desperately desired.”
Anything else you would like to share about this work? This can be an important part of the process, sourcing materials, research, etc.
Photographs Courtesy of the Artist