Open Studio Cambodia
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Founded 2018
Open Studio Cambodia is an arts collective representing a group of Cambodian contemporary artists (currently seven Cambodian members) and was founded by Lauren Iida, Japanese American artist originally from Seattle, USA. Open Studio Cambodia mentors and commercially represents its members, provides free art supplies, framing, transportation, studio space, safe art storage space, website management, art documentation, full-time admin staff support, marketing (photo, video, written narrative, social media, etc), assistance with grant writing and scholarship application submissions, and access (marketing, payment, and shipping) to an international market. Open Studio Cambodia curates exhibitions domestically and internationally on an ongoing basis for its members as well as other emerging contemporary Cambodian artists.
Plymouth Housing Mural "Hope"
Uptown Neighborhood (2nd & Mercer)
Seattle, Washington
(In progress) 2021
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The title of this piece is “Hope,” which I created for the new Plymouth Housing building using my signature “paper cutaway” technique. Themes include unity, inclusiveness, community, creative expression, and resilience in difficult times. The paper crane in Japanese culture is a symbol of hope and healing, specifically in times of adversity. It is said if one folds 1,000 paper cranes, their wish will be granted. The “Memory Net” aspect of this piece is a reoccurring theme in my artwork, as an emblem for honoring ones cultural heritage and “dredging” up symbolic objects which recall the personal stories which make up our self-awareness as a society. In my piece, community resolve, collective memories and experience come together through the hand of an artist who paints our united future of hope.
Relating back to the purpose of this building, assisting homeless people and being the new home of Path With Art, an arts non-profit I have taught for in the past, I created a piece which inspires hope and celebrates creativity and community. I think it will be enjoyed for generations to come both from close-proximity pedestrians and viewers from afar as well as residents and visitors to the site. Designed and cut by hand from paper in my studio, the final mural will be painted by artists from Path With Art in collaboration with Urban Artworks.
Relating back to the purpose of this building, assisting homeless people and being the new home of Path With Art, an arts non-profit I have taught for in the past, I created a piece which inspires hope and celebrates creativity and community. I think it will be enjoyed for generations to come both from close-proximity pedestrians and viewers from afar as well as residents and visitors to the site. Designed and cut by hand from paper in my studio, the final mural will be painted by artists from Path With Art in collaboration with Urban Artworks.
"Auntie Ming and the Lotus Child"
Washington State Arts Commission Purchase Award
Olympia, Washington
Installed May 2021
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"Auntie Ming and the Lotus Child" (2016) Hand-cut paper, watercolor, was purchased by the Washington State Arts Commission for permanent installation at Capitol Campus Child Care Center in Maple Park, Olympia, Washington.
"Endangered" Installation
Siem Reap, Cambodia
Installed May 2021
"I installed a vinyl print of my paper cutaway piece, “Endangered” outdoors in Siem Reap, Cambodia to honor a woman named Aem who often rides her bicycle with her young daughter in front of my house, searching for recyclables to resell as a means of earning a living. “Trash picking” is one of the worst jobs people can have in Cambodia, and she obviously lives in extreme poverty, riding her old steel bicycle in the hot sun all day and sifting through residential trash with her bare hands. One day I saw her crouched behind her bicycle, sitting on her tattered flip flops on the side of the dusty road. I approached her and started speaking to her and I could see she was wiping tears from her eyes with her dirty Krama. Every time I see her I give her food and toiletries. On a different day I asked her if I could take her photo and showed her some of my art. She agreed and I made this cut paper and watercolor piece. I installed it where she rides past normally in the hope that she will see it and recognize herself.
Also in this piece, “Endangered,” I depicted a puppy I met recently dubbed “Number 19” saved from the meat trade, a wild duck I saved from slaughter last year and set free in the sunken forest, and a “Common Iora” songbird I rehabilitated after it fell out of the sky during a strong rainstorm in front of my house. During this especially difficult time, I think it’s more important than ever to take the time to notice those suffering around each of us and do our part to uplift each other in whatever ways we can."
Also in this piece, “Endangered,” I depicted a puppy I met recently dubbed “Number 19” saved from the meat trade, a wild duck I saved from slaughter last year and set free in the sunken forest, and a “Common Iora” songbird I rehabilitated after it fell out of the sky during a strong rainstorm in front of my house. During this especially difficult time, I think it’s more important than ever to take the time to notice those suffering around each of us and do our part to uplift each other in whatever ways we can."
2nd AVE Sign Project
Common AREA Maintenance
Belltown Neighborhood (2nd & Blanchard)
Seattle, Washington, USA
Installed April 2021
"When we began Common AREA Maintenance (CAM) 5 years ago, a 50+ year old illuminated sign hung empty and in disrepair above our Belltown storefront. So we rewired it with the dream of creating a public rotating exhibition to showcase local artists’ work. A couple of years later and with the support of our partners, the 2nd Avenue Sign Project was born.
Lauren Iida is a cut-paper artist whose many influences include her family’s Japanese-American heritage and incarceration during WWII and her experience living and working in Cambodia, where she lives part-time and founded Open Studio Cambodia (@openstudiocambodia ) an art collective serving emerging contemporary Cambodian artists."
Lauren Iida is a cut-paper artist whose many influences include her family’s Japanese-American heritage and incarceration during WWII and her experience living and working in Cambodia, where she lives part-time and founded Open Studio Cambodia (@openstudiocambodia ) an art collective serving emerging contemporary Cambodian artists."
“The Artist”, depicts a Japanese-American artist at work during a figure drawing session while interned at Tule Lake during World War II, inspired by a photograph Lauren found in Densho’s archives. “The Artist” is proof of art as both resistance and healing, and a means to maintain one’s identity and self-expression against oppressive circumstances."
"We are also pleased to announce that we have expanded this project to include another of Lauren’s paper cut works - “Rock, Paper, Scissors,” a 10 x 5 image of children playing the game of chance, also from a photo in the Densho archives, visible in our storefront. “I use the element of chance a lot [in my work]. The idea that everything in life could be changed at the drop of a hat, that there’s an element of unpredictability in life,” Lauren said about the piece in a conversation with artist/activist Erin Shigaki."
DENSHO Artist-in-Residence
Seattle, Washington, USA
Year-long residency, 2021
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"Exodus" (2021) Lauren Iida, hand-cut paper, watercolor, ink, 8 x 10 inches
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“I am very pleased and honored to be selected as one of Densho’s 2021 Artists in Residence. Densho’s extensive digital archives have been an essential part of my own exploration and research about the experiences of my Japanese American members before, during, and after WWII. Densho’s historical photos, oral histories, and educational tools have influenced my artwork enormously over my art career and provided endless inspiration for exhibitions and public art projects. Thank you for this opportunity.” -Lauren Iida
Day of Remembrance Caravan to Protest Northwest Detention Center
Tacoma, Washington, USA
February 21, 2021
Created large scale artwork for protest against inhumane conditions for asylum seekers detained at the Northwest Detention Center.
Artwork designed for protest signs featuring "Never Again is Now" message
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Signs on the fence at NWDC, including artwork by Michelle Kumata (left) and Densho 2021 artist-in-residence Lauren Iida (right). Pictured in the middle are placards bearing the names of the concentration camps where Japanese Americans were imprisoned during WWII, as well as one for the Northwest Detention Center. Photo by Natasha Varner.
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Federal Way Link Extension Mural
Federal Way, Washington, USA
Installed 2020
Redmond Sound Transit commissioned 12 panels in cut paper for reproduction in vinyl, 120 feet long for temporary installation around the construction site of the new Federal Way Sound Transit Station.
"Art in everyday life provides positive experiences for people riding Sound Transit trains and buses, and for people living near its many transit centers. Artists respond to the local character of neighborhoods in artwork specifically created for the stations and facilities the agency operates. STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features artworks by nationally known artists as well as emerging public artists. Many live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work represents a diverse range of style, scale and perspective that creates welcoming and engaging places."
"Art in everyday life provides positive experiences for people riding Sound Transit trains and buses, and for people living near its many transit centers. Artists respond to the local character of neighborhoods in artwork specifically created for the stations and facilities the agency operates. STart utilizes 1 percent of construction budgets, as identified in each voter-approved capital initiative, to bring a human scale and thoughtful detail into the large transportation infrastructure that Sound Transit builds.
STart, Sound Transit's art program, features artworks by nationally known artists as well as emerging public artists. Many live in the Pacific Northwest. Their work represents a diverse range of style, scale and perspective that creates welcoming and engaging places."
"Public Art Comes to Your Front Yard"
Seattle, Washington, USA
(multiple locations)
2020
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Funded by the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and the Seattle Department of Transportation
"These three new pieces are my response to the COVID-19 pandemic which has completely changed the world. “Ponder, Learn, and Create” are the titles of these three images and have been my personal mantra throughout this devastating experience. Isolation, anxiety, despair, depression are always knocking at our door as we watch societies of the world fumble to deal with this unprecedented and detrimental experience. The series consists of portraits of solitary figures sequestered at home. A teenage boy joins his classmates virtually, a woman silently encounters herself in the mirror, an artist creates in her home studio. These familiar scenes are from my personal home-isolation experience but I hope will be received universally as many find themselves house-bound around the world. My goal is that these three pieces of art on their public stage will create a moment for their viewers of beauty, hope, and recognition that our creative human spirit will see us through into better days ahead. " 
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"Shoreline Banners" Public Art Project
Shoreline, Washington, USA
2016
The City of Shoreline commissioned two designs in cut paper for reproduction in cut stainless brushed aluminum. They are permanently installed on light posts throughout the city of Shoreline, Washington along Hwy 99.
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