Lauren Ike

Anonymous in appearance yet commanding a strong material presence, Iacoponi evokes Post-minimalism as both an aesthetic and conceptual reference. Gestural and abstract, three-dimensional and planar, her artworks—through the repetition of form—focus on process and material. Knots are central to Iacoponi's aesthetic vocabulary, linked to connectivity, and familial ties. The act of tying knots is a method of coping with anxiety reinforced through repetitive behavior. Knot-making reflects how commonplace objects conjure themes of continuity and separation, combination and deviation. Iacoponi explores the dichotomy of order and chaos and the paradox of accident and control through tactile-rich works that stimulate and pacify. 

There is a bodily connection to her works made through a process of repetition, accumulation, and seriality that is both labor and time-intensive and layered materials provide a visual record of the passage of time.  Wrapping, knotting, and binding, Iacoponi’s material use is a tactile blend of bleached muslin, cotton, silk, and miscellaneous white-adjacent fabric, often dipped in chalky white plaster or creamy melted wax. Her near-monochromatic works feature varying shades of white, some crisp, others with hues of cream, charcoal, ivory, pearl, alabaster, or beige. The palate is simplistic to emphasize texture, but the variety of color and cloth comes from the sourced materials found at Chicago’s Waste Shed (a sustainable non-profit that sells affordable repurposed arts and crafts materials). 

 

Tearing, slashing, knotting, and pinning materials into place has a calming and immediate impact on Iacoponi’s mental state. The immediacy of the process spikes dopamine. Iacoponi’s work can be seen as a reflection of obsessive behavior in the everyday, her focus on obsessive tendencies and thinking patterns - whether it is tunnel vision thinking or a fixation with health that leads to a repetitive workout regiment. Iacoponi finds obsessive behavior is key to both alleviating and causing stress.