" Seattle artist Lauren Iida builds entire worlds from fragile paper cutouts. Her intricate hand-cut artworks depict everyday objects — electric fans, reading glasses, playing cards, etc. — to create magical webs of recollection. If these are “traps,” they’re highly seductive ones.
​And they all tell a story. "
- Michael Upchurch,
​The Seattle Times
Read the full article
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“Memory Net II: Home” (2019), Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, temporary installation “Sunken Forest,” Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia 10 x 1,5 meters

MEMORY NET 

In English, we say we’ve “lost a memory.” The phrase suggests memory has been dropped, misplaced, but not gone. A memory, a loss, may seem absent in our lives but still present in some other way, perhaps on an unseen plane of existence. We say we “dredge up” a memory. The memory sinks, drifts, but with the right line, we might catch it – an object pulled up from the deep. 
The Memory Net is a reoccurring temporary installation piece, approximately 30 feet in length and cut by hand from a single piece of paper. The artist travels with the piece and documents it around the world, each setting bringing new meaning to the work. 

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Detail of the Memory Net
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Temporary installation Fremont Foundry, Seattle, Washington, USA 2018
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Temporary Installation Koh Rong Island, Cambodia 2018
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Temporary Installation, Oddar Meanchey, Cambodia 2019
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Temporary Installation Phum Prey Cheteal, Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia 2017
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Currently on view at Artxchange Gallery in Seattle, Washington until August 22, 2020 as part of the Seattle Deconstructed Art Fair

32 ASPECTS OF DAILY LIFE

"As her work has developed, Iida has often alternated between exploring her Japanese American family history and documenting her current life living in Cambodia. Currently, Iida has struck an unusual balance by utilizing formats inspired by Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock artists - within this framework that pays homage to her ancestral history, Iida depicts people from her daily life in Cambodia, resulting in in a unique style that reflects the multifaceted culture she has created for herself."
​Preview the full catalog and order online ​here.
PRESS

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"7. The Appearance of a Fisherwoman at the Kep Crab Market" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink, watercolor, acrylic
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6. "Smoky- The Appearance of a Housewife in the Sunken Forest" (2020) Hand-cut paper, ink, acrylic, watercolor

CITIZEN'S INDEFINITE LEAVE

"Citizen's Indefinite Leave" incorporates historical scenes from the period of unjust incarceration of hundreds of thousands of people of Japanese ancestry in the USA during World War II. Drawing on her own family's collection of photos, oral histories, and artifacts as well as images sourced from Densho's public domain archives, Iida pays homage to the struggle of her grandparents and great grandparents and explores how the trauma of this era has influenced her own relationship with her Japanese American cultural heritage. 

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"Exodus" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink, watercolor, acrylic, 14 x 11 inches (35.5 x 28 cm)
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"Preservation" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink 18 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm)
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"Transplanting" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink 19.75 x 17 inches (50 x 43 cm)
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"Unsettled" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, ink, 22.5 x 16.5 inches (57 x 42 cm)
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"The Artist" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink, acrylic SOLD
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"Rock, Paper, Scissors" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink
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"Adventure of the Incarcerated" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink

CURRENTLY AVAILABLE AT OPEN STUDIO CAMBODIA 

Open Studio Cambodia is an artist collective based in Siem Reap, Cambodia comprised of eight contemporary Cambodian artists and its founder, paper cutaway artist, Lauren Iida. Open Studio Cambodia provides mentoring services, marketing, art supplies, and domestic and international exhibition opportunities to its members and collaborates with a network of artists and arts organizations to promote the rising contemporary art scene in Cambodia as a whole.
​PRESS
Learn more about Open Studio Cambodia including current and upcoming exhibitions and events in Cambodia and around the world at our website. 

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"Solace" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor 16.5 x 13 inches (42 x 33 cm)
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"Mango Rain" (2020) Hand-cut paper, ink, watercolor 16 x 23 inches (41.5 x 59 cm)
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"After the Fight" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink, watercolor, 22 x 13 inches (56 x 33 cm)
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"Season of Change" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper 50 x 34 inches (127 x 86 cm) SOLD
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"Veasna in the Sunken Forest" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, acrylic 10 x 17 inches (25 x 43 cm)
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"Afternoon in Battambang" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, acrylic, ink, 10 x 17 inches (25 x 43 cm) SOLD
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"Seyha in the Sunken Forest" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, acrylic 5 x 7 inches (12 x 18 cm)
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"Recovery" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, acrylic, ink 18 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm) SOLD
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"Divination" (2020), Lauren iida, hand-cut paper, ink, 13.5 x 20.5 inches (34 x 52 cm)
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"Portrait of Sokun" (2020) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, ink, 24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm) SOLD

100 ASPECTS OF THE MOON
Solo Exhibition, Virago Gallery
Seattle, USA 2018
This collection features 100 intricately hand-cut works inspired by Japanese woodblock artist, Yoshitoshi's 1890s series by the same name. Each new piece captures a moment from the artist's experience, sometimes inspired by her home in Cambodia, sometimes drawing on her Japanese American family's archive of vintage photographs. All 100 images in this series contain the moon in some way, symbolizing the common thread of humanity through time, distance, and culture. 
PRESS

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"You Have the Sun, I Have the Moon" (2018), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor
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"I See the Moon and the Moon Sees Me (Think of Love)" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, acrylic 8 x 10 inches
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"The Patient Captain" (2018), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, watercolor, acrylic 8 x 10 inches
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"The Moon is Not Only Beautiful, It's Also Far Away" (2018), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor, acrylic 8 x 10 inches
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"Moon and Smoke" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, acrylic, watercolor 8 x 10 inches
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"Spellbound" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor, acrylic
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"A Collection of Things Heard in the Past and Present" (2018), Lauren Iid, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor 5 x7 inches
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"Channeling the Moon" (2018), Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, watercolor 5 x 7 inches
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"Royal Mother Flees to the Moon" (2018), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink, acrylic, watercolor

HOW TO TRAP A MEMORY 

Solo Exhibition, Artxchange Gallery
Seattle, Washington, 2017
"Intricate paper cutaway works create an intimate portrait of the artist, utilizing a visual language of metaphorical objects traversing a decade living between the United States and Cambodia. Her new collection illustrates how stories and memories accumulate in the corners of our mind and ultimately become a structure we carry with us. Memories become both a burden and safe place of refuge, forming our history and identity.   Anchoring the show, a large-scale installation, “Memory Net,” creates a physical structure built of ephemeral memories. Expressively rendered objects including octopus legs, dice, traditional Khmer (Cambodian) scarves and reading glasses are suspended and trapped within a large-scale paper net. Iida’s visual language uses repetition and calculated assemblage to recount the occurrences that form her identity, referencing everything from her educational work in Cambodia to the stories of her Japanese heritage."
PRESS

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"Good Luck for You" (2017) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, 38 x 50 inches SOLD
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"How to Trap a Memory" exhibition at Artxchange Gallery
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“Trapped II” (2017) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, 11 x 7 inches SOLD
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Detail of "Shared Histories: Tule Lake" (2017), hand-cut paper, ink

REVERIE

2017 solo exhibition at Java Creative Cafe 
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
"Java welcomes Lauren Iida, a papercut artist whose detailed work sensitively captures the minutiae of Cambodian life. Every composition is a carefully selected moment filled with gesture and potential that seems to allude to something that just happened or is about to. Iida transforms the flat surface of paper to a multi-dimensional sculpture, constructing layers, textures and accentuating the play of light and shadows.
This exhibition brings together a series of intimate portraits and chaotic urbanscapes – something that, as Iida explains, represents her experience of life in Cambodia." 

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“Anticipation III: Srey Leak” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 7 x 11.25 inches
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“Anticipation II: Sok Kai” (SOLD) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 11 x 8.25 inches
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“Anticipation I: Phaly” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 11 x 8.25 inches SOLD
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“Baby No-No” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 11.5 x 15 inches
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“Unspoken” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 14 x 28 inches
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“Vertical Landscape I: Street 258” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 18 x 23.75 inches SOLD
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“Vertical Landscape II: Kampot” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 18 x 23.75
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“Trapped I” (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, acrylic 7 x 5 inches SOLD
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“Death and Abundance” (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, acrylic 50 x 38 inches
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“The Strange Tale of the Magic Flying Whiteboard” (2016) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 50 x 38 inches
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“Deluge Upstairs (Tomorrow is a New Day)” 2017 Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 24 x 18 inches
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“Mai Mai” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 14 x 11.25 SOLD
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“Interference” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 38 x 50 inches SOLD
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"Momentary" (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 38 x 50 inches SOLD
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"Nourishing You" (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 18 x 14 inches SOLD
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“The Laundress” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 9.25 x 13 inches SOLD
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"Sacrifice” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 17 x 10.5 inches
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“Static” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 11 x 8.75 SOLD
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"Turned Away, Mondulkiri" (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 4.5 x 11 inches SOLD
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“Turned Away, Svay Rieng” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 4 x 11 inches SOLD
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“Turned Away, Kampot” Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 4.5 x 10.25 inches
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“Trapped II” (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 11 x 7 inches SOLD
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“Hold On” (2017) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 50 x 38 inches hand-cut paper SOLD
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"Seeking Clarity" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, acrylic SOLD
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"Ma Chigai/Dog Mother" (2016), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, watercolor 5.5 x 11 inches SOLD
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"Oun Srey/Little Sister" (2016), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper (diptych) 16 x 10 inches SOLD
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“Shared Histories (Tule Lake)” (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper, Sumi ink 50 x 38 inches
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"Good Luck for You" (2016) Lauren Iida Hand-cut paper 50 x 38 inches SOLD
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"Adrift" (2016), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper 50 x 38 inches SOLD

PACIFIC NORTHWEST COLLECTION

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"Great Wheel, Seattle" (2017), Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper 19 x 13 inches
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"Seattle Monorail" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper 5 x 6 inches
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"Native Fisherman at Ballard Locks" (2016), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper 5.5 x 5.5 inches SOLD
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"Olympic Sculpture Park" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper 7 x 10 inches
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"Mount Rainier - Seattle" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper 7 x 10 inches SOLD
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"Changing Form at Kite Hill" (2016), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut Paper 7 x 10 inches
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"Changing Form-Kerry Park, Seattle" (2017), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper 8 x 10 inches
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"Flock Over Gasworks" (2016), Lauren Iida, Hand-cut paper (triptych) 14.5 x 39 inches SOLD