Brick by Brick With Lauren Halsey

Lauren Halsey is an artist whose legacy refuses to be contained. Her installations fuse Afrocentricism and funk elements with visionary monolithic forms, drawing on her architectural training, deep commitment to community and lifelong love of basketball. As a result, the work reaches far beyond the conventional art market, forming a feedback loop of care, culture and tangible social structure rooted firmly in South Central Los Angeles, where she grew up.

“South Central’s presence within my work and in my process has always been pronounced. My love and intrigue for my neighborhood and the city, I don’t hide it. And the different communities and villages that compose South Central are super dynamic, sometimes complicated, yet very complex,” says Halsey. “I’m happy that I’m at a point in my professional life where I can really center my neighborhood—and not just artistically and culturally, but also economically—within my practice.”

Halsey keeps her studio and large-scale projects in the locale, shaping an intimate, ongoing dialogue with Black place-making. Her influences range from local artists like Ramsess and Dominique Moody to the everyday makers on her block. While her work is often compared to community-rooted legacies like Noah Davis’ Underground Museum or institutions such as the California African American Museum, she’s keen to point out that “what I (and people like Noah Davis) am doing is more than just an art-world thing.”