Lauren West (b.1989) is from Oxford, Mississippi. She received her MFA degree from The New York Academy of Art after obtaining a BFA from the University of Mississippi. She now lives and works in her studio in Greenpoint in Brooklyn, New York."My paintings deal with the wild combination of animals, beasts that barely exist, a few humans, and what in the hell we’re all even doing here. I love creating worlds with characters that don’t mind leaning into the cheesy wonderment of what it all means. I’ve got a lot of questions on living and my work is simply the product of working through those questions. It’s all comically bittersweet but boy oh boy I hope it’s hopeful." -Lauren West