Artist
| Arts & Entertainment |
SPOTLIGHT
LORENA MALM Local artists invigorate the community with thoughtful, creative pieces. Each issue, Starved Rock Country Magazine and Starved Rock Country Community Foundation are partnering to highlight artists and their work.
1
orena Malm’s imagination plays a big role in her artwork. For example, last year she won a second-placed ribbon at The Next Picture Show Gallery in Dixon for her use of copper tape and crushed eggshells. She also hopes to challenge herself this year by finding an “avenue to which I will be able to teach others to use their imagination in creating abstract art.” Malm is a self-taught, Starved Rock Country-area artist who uses oil paint, her iPad and a variety of other
24 | Spring 2022 • Starved Rock Country
materials to create abstract artwork, both on the canvas and digitally. A paint-by-number oil set sparked her love for art at 9 years old. “As I painted each day, I learned patience was not something I had, but must develop, and my perfectionism became obvious for the first time, bringing with it a sense of desire to go ‘outside the lines,’” she says. Malm recently (in 2018) began what she calls “the emerging process” into an artist community. She has presented exhibits at local arts organizations like
Open Space Art Gallery & Studios in Ottawa and participated in Princeton Art District’s First Friday Market, among others. “The amount of support has been tremendous,” she says. Describing her artwork, Malm says her imagery comes from experiences, memories, emotions and, occasionally, dreams. “I embed my emotions into the art, with intention to present connection to the viewer, that they too will feel emotion and connected to an otherwise abstract tangible,” she S R explains. C
