We recently had the chance to connect with Lauren Coll and have shared our conversation below.
Lauren, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
My mornings are rife with excitement. I rise and shine at 5am. I don’t even need an alarm, because my pups know the time and make sure I’m out of bed by 5:01. Then, it’s a quick walk, brush, comb, and cuddle. When I am done with them, it’s time for my chores and from there, into the gym before sunrise. I like to sweat early, claim that quiet power hour, and set the rhythm for the day. Breakfast is clean, protein-packed, and keeps me sharp. By the time the city wakes, I’m already raring to go.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m a multidisciplinary artist working in both graphite and acrylic paints, drawn to exploring the spaces between what’s seen and what’s hidden. Right now, I’m working on two series that feel deeply personal. The Traveler explores life’s transitions: those in-between moments when we step out of one chapter and into the unknown. The second series focuses on women in today’s culture: identity, vulnerability, and the emotions we often carry quietly beneath the surface. I work in a stripped-back, tonal way because I believe silence can be as expressive as form. My goal isn’t to tell the viewer what to feel but to invite them into the work and let them find their own story in the shadows.
Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. Who were you before the world told you who you had to be?
Before the world told me who I had to be, I was exactly who I am, just freer. I’ve always been curious, observant, and fiercely independent. As a female, it never occurred to me that there were any limitations. Even as a kid, I questioned everything — rules, expectations, the structures people just accepted without thinking. And while, on the surface, it may look like I followed the rules, the truth is I mostly ignored convention and carved my own path. There is always societal pushback when you follow your own mind, but it was impossible for me to act otherwise. I’ve always carried this duality — part strategist, part artist — and I’ve built a life that reflects that. The world tried to define me, (as it does to everyone) but I’ve spent my life defining myself.
What did suffering teach you that success never could?
Suffering taught me something success never could: that a lot of it comes from trying to change what you simply can’t. I’ve learned to put my energy where it matters: focus on what I can change and let go of the rest. Longing for people or situations that just don’t work is exhausting and pointless. Life gets lighter when you stop fighting what you can’t control and start shaping what you can.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What do you believe is true but cannot prove?
That we are energy and that we don’t die; we transition to another state of being. I see me in my body in much the same way as me driving a car. I drive the car, but I am not the car. I get out of the car and I continue, even if the car breaks down. I’ve just stepped out of that vehicle. In much the same way, the spirit steps out of the body. One day, my energy will leave my body. My body dying doesn’t mean that my spirit disappears. It just moves on to another adventure. My artwork is reflective of that belief. I think that is why I have been compelled to imagine transitions beyond what we know in this existence. The images themselves may be melancholic because each farewell is a loss of sorts, but within that experience is the beginning of a new existence. The magic of art, and creativity in general, is that it lets us reach out to dimensions that go beyond the three we experience here.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
That what you can’t change isn’t worth your time, energy or suffering. That if you focus on what you can change, you will change the quality of your life and your future and make the experience of this existence a better one.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://collmiami.wixsite.com/website-6
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coll_miami/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauren-coll-44aa23195/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lcollstudio/
Image Credits
Lauren Coll
