Lauren Purje was born in 1987 in Dublin, Ohio. She received a BFA in
Painting from Ohio University in 2009. She now lives and works in
Brooklyn, New York.

Purje's work hones in on the human condition, but with a humorous
slant. Uncertainty, anxiety, alienation, meaninglessness, tragedy, and
death all coerce in a dance macabre of cartoon characters. Her
drawings are personal, inspired by her own experiences, subtly masked
in allegory.

Painterly compositions are juxtaposed with her stylistically "cute"
figures, akin to comic book artists like Edward Gorey and Jeffrey
Brown. They often look detached and uncertain as to how to act in
their given circumstance. Lauren explains, "It's just how I feel.
We're all put here without any real guidelines. Somehow we have to
figure out a purpose. But in the grand scheme of things, there is
none. It seems like everyone can relate to feeling small and helpless,
at least at some point in their lives."