Birr woman's 'From Womb to World' exhibition on display in Limerick

Lauren Culbert, a mature student at Limerick School of Art and Design (LSAD) originally from Birr, has an exhibition on display at LSAD's Graduate Show.

Lauren, 32, a bodybuilder and mother-of-three, has said that while the concept for her project has been in the works since September, the real work for the exhibit began in January of this year.

Her project, 'From Womb to World', an “immersive space” and “multi-sensory experience” that includes “subtle sounds, soft scents, tactile and visually engaging elements” has been garnering lots of attention as it is on display in Limerick until Sunday June 9.

“The inspiration was always the same – personal experiences”, Lauren said of her exhibition, which she admitted “totally took a turn” throughout the creative process.

Throughout her time in LSAD Lauren has worked with many different materials; clay, metals, paints, watercolours. Her original idea for her exhibition included the chords which stayed to the finished version, but Lauren ultimately decided on also working with textiles, as they “fit the concept better.”

Lauren's mother helped her to sew them all together.Lauren credits her mother, an artist as well, with influencing her love for of art: “Mam would paint watercolours when we were kids because there were five of us running around, and watercolours are quick!”

Lauren herself has three children, and her exhibition showcases how central the maternal condition has been in her life.

Inspiration for this installation was “drawn from a feeling of disconnect from my body”, Lauren reveals, although she is quick to mention that she does not intend for her exhibition, which includes other features such as watercolour paintings, to come across as wholly sad.

The multi-sensory experience makes it “more interactive and playful... People interacting with it give it a bit of life.”

The inside of the exhibition is accessed from an oval entrance (“I was interested in what reactions different people would have - men, for example!”) and the inside is soft and blocks out outside noise. The subtle sounds and soft scents heighten the multi-sensory experience.

Lauren said she wanted to “get people interested and asking questions... to provoke critical thought.”

After a first year mostly online due to the pandemic and deferring her second year due to the birth of her child, this exhibition was part of the requirements for her final year in LSAD, where she has recently graduated with a first class degree.

“My parents are very proud of course,” Lauren said, “And my daughter's very impressed too!” Lauren began in LSAD in 2019, after completing a PLC course.“It knocked my confidence a bit coming into third level with a Junior Cert or Leaving Cert," Lauren said, and acknowledged that she “didn't have a great time in school” in Birr and Banagher.

However, she acknowledges that “art was always my subject”, and when she started in LSAD her mother enrolled at the same time.“I'd also love to do a master's”, Lauren also revealed. “One day!”