Lauren Mendez

My work focuses on the atmospheric quality in the air and sky, resulting in a minimal ‘scape where the mood or emotion is conveyed through a loose painting application. The dramatic subject matter of sky, clouds and weather contain a rich quality of feeling and memory.

 Clouds orchestrate what nature is doing, a foretelling of what is to come. Mounting clouds prior to a thunderstorm or a long series of clouds building create a pattern of nature. I am fascinated with storms and clouds and their relation to the ocean. Always changing and never the same, clouds are an opportunity to witness an event that is larger than me, giving a sense of comfort and awe, as though there is more than what meets the eyes.

 Through light, clouds act as a canvas. Clouds capture the energy in the sky. Light is imperative to creating a painting. It illuminates what we cannot see. As it is in the sky, light illuminates the puffs and wind swept clouds across the sky. I am not interested in imitating nature, but to reflect through my paintings of clouds and light my own experiences. This is the impetus behind my work, to paint an image that brings me to being on the ocean in the midst of the night in a storm.

Education

San Francisco Art Institute, BFA, Painting, 1998

Five Branches University, MSTCM, Traditional Chinese Medicine, 2017

Exhibitions

2025 SFAI Alumni Group Show, R. Blitzer Gallery, Santa Cruz, CA

2017 Clouds, Sherwood Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2011 Solo Exhibition, Ritual Coffee Roaster, San Francisco, CA

2011 Solo Exhibition, Synergy, San Francisco, CA

2010 Solo Exhibition, Cowboys & Angels, San Francisco, CA