Lauren Drew Barros is a mixed media artist based in Austin, TX. She received her Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Her work calls upon her architectural background not only with its materiality but with its craft and attention to detail.

Her mixed media pieces explore the relationship between visibility, legibility, and meaning. Every piece begins with writing on a theme, applying the words directly to the canvas. She builds layers atop of this writing, obscuring it with sheer coats of paint and drafting tape, rendering the content purposefully illegible but still perceptible. She asks questions through her work. Does obscuring a message under layers of material weaken its meaning? Are words still meaningful if written but never read? Does art earn its meaning through its ability to be perceived or is it innate? Is the meaning of art in the process of creation or in the viewing of the final form?

Lauren Drew Barros makes thoughtful decisions on what is concealed and what is revealed in her artwork, both building up and carving away layers to create a finished product that holds deep personal meaning.