Lauren Fensterstock

Portland-based artist Lauren Fensterstock creates detailed, labor- intensive, large-scale installations that draw from the decorative arts, including paper quilling and mosaic. She is preoccupied with our relationship to nature and humankind’s attempt to control it.

The Order of Things is a mixed media triptych that merges her interests in Paleolithic caves and elaborate shell grottoes or collections from 18th-century England. The shells are originally sourced in coastal Maine, from friends, restaurateurs, eBay, and estate sales, and then meticulously arranged, adhered into place, covered in resin, and painted black. By doing so, she transforms found material to balance seemingly unrelated ideas—the cave to cabinet of curiosity—into one sweeping experience. This mysterious cabinet of curiosity is overpopulated with undulating rhythms to further suggest our inability to govern the natural world. It is simultaneously chaotic and controlled, symmetrical yet overgrown. The Order of Things exposes our desire to contain, order, and identify specimens while poetically illustrating the futility of such acts.

“‘The Order of Things’ pokes holes in Western fantasies of mastery. Whether mastery over nature, mastery over ourselves, or mastery over the techniques of aesthetic consumption; the Post-Enlightenment has been a period obsessed with imposed order and autonomy. These delusions are at best impossible and at worst the cause of devastating harm. ‘The Order of Things’ suggests a force beyond human control and the potential for an integrated way forward.”

— Lauren Fensterstock

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Lauren Fensterstock

Portland-based artist Lauren Fensterstock creates detailed, labor- intensive, large-scale installations that draw from the decorative arts, including paper quilling and mosaic. She is preoccupied with our relationship to nature and humankind’s attempt to control it.

Gideonsson/Londré

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Julie Edel Hardenberg

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Joan Jonas

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Justin Levesque

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Guest UserFebruary 11, 20222022 nat artist

Lauren Fensterstock

Portland-based artist Lauren Fensterstock creates detailed, labor- intensive, large-scale installations that draw from the decorative arts, including paper quilling and mosaic. She is preoccupied with our relationship to nature and humankind’s attempt to control it.

Explore more artworks from North Atlantic Triennial

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Lauren Fensterstock

Portland-based artist Lauren Fensterstock creates detailed, labor- intensive, large-scale installations that draw from the decorative arts, including paper quilling and mosaic. She is preoccupied with our relationship to nature and humankind’s attempt to control it.

Explore more artworks from North Atlantic Triennial

VISITEXHIBITIONSPROGRAMS & EVENTSPMA FILMSJOIN & GIVELearnWINSLOW HOMER STUDIO

Art For AllSustainabilityABOUT THE PMADonate OnlinePRESS ROOMANNUAL REPORTSPMA Recommends

Facility RentalBOARD OF TRUSTEEScareersDIRECTORYIMAGE SERVICESTerms of UseContact US

LOG IN: Staff | Docents | Trustees

VISIT
EXHIBITIONS
PROGRAMS & EVENTS
PMA FILMS
JOIN & GIVE
Learn
WINSLOW HOMER STUDIO

Art For All
Sustainability
ABOUT THE PMA
Donate Online
PRESS ROOM
ANNUAL REPORTS
PMA Recommends

Facility Rental
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
careers
DIRECTORY
IMAGE SERVICES
Terms of Use
Contact US