LAUREN HALSEY
ALCHEMIST | Artist
The artist creates epic monuments to South Central Los Angeles—and continually reinvests in the neighborhood that made her. Halsey’s latest community-minded caper? Her “dream park,” slated to open in 2026.
WHAT KEEPS YOU UP AT NIGHT? Breaking into the world of stage design and creative direction for music festivals, fashion runways, and concerts. ASAP!
WHAT’S ONE BOOK, WORK OF ART, OR FILM THAT GOT YOU THROUGH AN IMPORTANT MOMENT IN YOUR LIFE? Toni Morrison’s lecture at Portland State University from 1975: “An artist’s role is to bear witness, to contribute to the record, the real record, of life as he or she knows it, perceptions that are one’s own.”
DESCRIBE A RECENT CROSSROADS AT WHICH YOU FOUND YOURSELF. “To fold or not to fold?” Don’t fold.
“What would Toni Morrison think?”
WHAT’S SOMETHING PEOPLE GET WRONG ABOUT YOU? That I’m not painfully shy. I am.
WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU SURPRISED YOURSELF IN YOUR PRACTICE? I presented about 115,200 CD-ROM discs on the walls and floors of a gallery at the Serpentine, seamlessly. Total immersion.
WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT WERE YOU KNOWN FOR? Basketball. I wanted to play for Pat Summitt and the Lady Vols more than anything in the world.
WHAT DO YOU THINK IS YOUR BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION TO CULTURE? Contemporary neighborhood funk through space-making?
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO SEE MORE OF IN YOUR INDUSTRY? LESS OF? More ambitious public artwork in the hood. Less conservatism and bureaucracy in the art world.
WHAT QUESTION DO YOU ASK YOURSELF MOST OFTEN WHILE YOU’RE MAKING WORK? What would Toni Morrison do?
in your life?
