Lori Reed was born on a farm outside of Galesburg, Illinois and spent most of her adult life as a Galesburg resident where she ran a graphic design business. She received her BFA from the University of Illinois. She’s been making mixed media collages for the past 13 years and has used photos as the basis of her work since 2009. Nature inspires Lori in her work and her daily life.
After searching through her photos for one that inspires her, she makes several digitally altered variations (giving the images painterly, sketchy or scratched looks). She cuts prints of the photos into strips and builds the scene with sections from each of the altered photos. Sometimes she adds in pieces of handmade papers, topographical maps, text, or fragments from old ledger books to further abstract the scene. Lori feels she’s moving from a photographic documentation of a place at a particular time to an impression of a place that is timeless—more of a memory or a feeling of the space. Her work is available for sale in the BCA Gift Shop.