Illustration graduate to release new zine with exhibition launch event

BA (Hons) Illustration graduate Lauren Eling is releasing a new zine, ‘Magical Mundane’, with a special launch event and solo exhibition at Hyde Park Book Club on Wednesday 30 September.

Lauren is a multidisciplinary artist who embodies characters and narratives through costumes and puppets, incorporating 3D making, performance, photography and illustration, documenting her work through print formats such as zines. Drawing on influences including theatre, puppetry and children’s books and television, Lauren creates whimsical and tactile work that “feels like it’s had a human touch to create it”.

‘Magical Mundane’ is Lauren’s latest project, a publication following the life of The Wizard, a character they created in 2023 that sparked a love of costume making. The project blends “fantasy with stark reality”, juxtaposing the surreal character of The Wizard against mundane city life. After creating the costume for the character on their Funded Studio Space residency at Patrick Studios, Lauren and MA Animation student Charlie Smith photographed The Wizard’s daily activities and interactions with the public in Chapel Allerton, coming together in a zine which will debut at a launch event and exhibition at Hyde Park Book Club.

Taking place on 30 September, audiences can expect “lots of magic at the exhibition and launch event”. Attendees will be the first to get their hands on the zine, alongside an exhibition where they will be able to see prints, sculptures and props from the project, as well as The Wizard himself.