Lauren Iida was born in Seattle, Washington and holds a BFA from Cornish College of the Arts (2014). She specializes in intricately hand-cut paper, often incorporating watercolor, ink wash and shadow play. Much of Iida's work is influenced by Cambodia where she has been working on various non-profit and social entrepreneurship projects since 2008. Other major influences include her family's Japanese American heritage, their incarceration during WWII, and her Pacific Northwest home. Iida now shares her time between Seattle and Cambodia where in addition to her own artistic practice, she leads art tours and operates the artist collective Open Studio Cambodia. Iida's work has been exhibited internationally and at venues throughout the Pacific Northwest, including ArtX Contemporary, Galerie Lee (Paris), King Street Station, the Mayor’s Gallery at Seattle City Hall, and Tacoma Spaceworks. She is the recipient of a GAP Grant from Artist Trust, a fellowship from the Art Matters Foundation, and her work has been collected and commissioned for permanent public installation by Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, the Washington State Convention Center, Seattle Department of Transportation, The City of Bellevue, Sound Transit, Meta (Facebook), and the Denver Theatre District.