bio & artist statement

@laniasprolesartist I @th0tquarius

American, b. 1995 — LaNia Sproles lives and works in Chicago, IL. They graduated with a BFA from Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design in 2017. Their body of work spans several disciplines including: printmaking, drawing and collage. The philosophies of self-perception, queer and feminist theories, and inherent racial dogmas are essential to Sproles’s work. They examine the works’ of feminist artists and writers such as Octavia Butler, Kara Walker and Rebecca Morgan. In 2020, They completed their year as a 2019 Mary L. Nohl fellow, continued as a teaching artist-in-residence at the Lynden Sculpture Garden and guest curated an exhibition hosted by NADA art fair with Green Gallery. Most recently Sproles has exhibited several artworks with Elijah Wheat Showroom hosted by David Zwirner’s online exhibition space, Platform and with Chicago based galleries, Goldfinch Gallery & FLXST Contemporary.

These portraits span across various methods of making and reveal my innate infatuation with kinship. My commitment to displays of sentiments transform my subjects and at times myself into monumental emblems. The use of collage allows for their form to operate similarly to a landscape, stretching across the surface of the wall. Painting, drawing and printmaking encourages me to build vivid environments and to establish each subject’s emotional complexities. Through this execution, the figures ratify our imprinted faiths of marginalized bodies as sites incapable of credence and power. Their direct qualm gazes remind the viewer to spectate diligently and for the subjects to secure refuge in their dreamscapes. The nostalgic overtone entwined with fantastical elements solidify the playful adoration vital for these relationships of mine to thrive. Collectively, these figures pay homage to the importance of preserving one's humanity through carefully maintained curiosity.