Lauren Wy's Autodesire Explores Identity and Eroticism in Turin

Lauren Wy (Long Beach, 1987) presents her series Autodesire at Société Interludio in Turin, curated by Allegra Fantini. The exhibition, titled The vagabond and the lovers, features the final two chapters of the thirteen-chapter series, alongside paintings and sculptures created during her residency in Turin. Wy's work investigates female identity and eroticism through a visual novel composed of hundreds of small-format oil pastels bound as books. The first chapter of Autodesire began when Wy left home against her family's wishes to embark on a self-exploration through painting. Vintage cars, a recurring motif, serve as both characters and narrative devices, reflecting American cultural identity as seen in Stephen Shore's American Surfaces. Wy describes Los Angeles as her home, where vintage cars represent a specific romanticism intertwined with her cultural identity. Her paintings, from pastels to large canvases, feature acidic colors and scratched lines, conveying an uneasy erotic charge and the complexity of a non-conforming female identity. The exhibition extends to the Project Space in Cambiano, where concrete demijohns, found at flea markets, are displayed as wandering containers. The sculptures contrast the roughness of concrete with sinuous forms softened by painted lines. The show alludes to scenarios of hope where dreams, love, and sensual exuberance overcome solitude.