home away from home

home away from home is a photographic series born from my own experience of trying to build a sense of home while studying somewhere new, and from wanting to lean on photography as a way to build community while I built that new home for myself. It invites viewers into intimate encounters with individuals navigating the emotional terrain of migration and temporary dwelling, exploring what home means when distance, circumstance, or opportunity requires us to leave, and what new forms home can take when we arrive somewhere unfamiliar.

I created this work during my time studying in London, and it grew out of a desire to build community with fellow students living far from the places that shaped them. I was drawn to the subtle ways people transformed temporary rooms into sanctuaries, so I began documenting not just the spaces themselves, but the lives unfolding within them: family photographs pinned to walls, inherited objects carried across continents, cherished textiles, and personal rituals, all evidence of home persisting beyond geography.

This series is my way of offering a window into what it means to migrate to a new place, and a reminder of how powerful it is to share our stories, for reflection, comfort, and recognition.

Grab your copy of the home away from home photobook available for purchase in the shop.

Love letter to home

Filmed, directed & edited by Lui Vigo

This video installation lives alongside the home away from home series. In this work, I explore the essence of home within both the familiar and the foreign.

The work celebrates the quiet bravery of those who’ve had to rebuild someplace new, whether temporary or permanent, and the memories and tokens we carry along the way.

Years after the first printing and publication of home away from home, I found myself with lingering reflections.

In this work, I recite three poems to three locations that I consider home within the neighborhood I grew up in, ending in my parents' home backyard.

I invite you to reflect on these questions from Love letter to home as you sit with the work.

What was your first home away from home?

How many homes have you known?

How many homes exist within you?

Where do you go when home feels too cramped?

Where do you go when home feels too loud?

home away from home campaign

A video that brings you closer, into my studio, into the darkroom, as I talk about the home away from home series and what led me here, to this exhibition opening at IPC ArtSpace in Little Haiti, Florida, on view from July 23 - September 5, 2026.

Returning to the darkroom, being an artist in residence at Tunnel Projects, has felt like coming up for air. It's where I feel most unearthed, most vulnerable, most myself. All of it, at once.

My studio has become a place where I can exist however I need to. Having somewhere for this work to live, and to transform, has changed everything for me.

Directed, filmed & edited by Juan Luis Matos

home away from home, a solo exhibition at IPC Artspace from July 23 - September 5, 2026

Curated by Zee Lopez Del Carmen and Karamot Gabriella

HOME AWAY FROM HOME EXPLORES THE RESILIENT ACT OF CREATING BELONGING

(MIAMI, FL - July 23, 2026) - Welcome to home away from home, a solo exhibition by Lauryn Lawrence curated by Zee Lopez Del Carmen and Karamot Gabriella, hosted at IPC ArtSpace in Little Haiti, Florida. Through photography and site specific installation work Lawrence invites viewers into intimate encounters with individuals navigating the emotional terrain of migration and temporary dwelling.

The exhibition explores what we think of home when distance, circumstance, or opportunity requires us to leave, and what new forms home can take when we arrive somewhere unfamiliar. At its core, home away from home, is a meditation on the people who carry home with them. Created during Lawrence's time studying in London, the work emerged from conversations and collaborations with fellow students living far from the places that shaped them.

Presented at IPC ArtSpace in Little Haiti, this exhibition is grounded in the vision Carl Juste’s space upholds, the importance of cultural space making. IPC ArtSpace is a sanctuary itself that nurtures connections between stories reflected all across South Florida and the Caribbean, while fostering intersections of action with cultural partners.

The space champions expressive authenticity, cultural vibrancy, and a deep commitment to cultural roots. He saw that, not only in the works, but in the team behind this exhibition and opened his doors.

As Lawrence crossed the thresholds of student residences and shared living spaces, the project evolved into something more intimate. The homes she initially sought to document gradually receded into the background as trust developed between Lawrence and her cohort. What remained at the center was the body itself - the person whose memories, labor, and presence transformed an unfamiliar environment into a place of comfort. The resulting portraits ask viewers to look closely and consider the stories embedded within each gesture and expression.

Many of the individuals Lawrence photographed instinctively turned toward fabric during moments of vulnerability, their favorite blanket or a comforter. In response, the artist chose to print their portraits on muslin, permanently embedding those moments of trust into the very material that provided comfort. The pliability of the fabric serves as both a protective layer and a record of exposure, reflecting the delicate balance between fragility and resilience that defines the experience of building a life elsewhere.

Accompanying these works are photographs developed within Lawrence's darkroom practice, a space that became integral to her own process of adaptation. The darkroom emerged as a site of healing and reflection, allowing her to cultivate a deeper relationship with her surroundings while processing her own questions about identity and connection. Together, the works form a layered exploration of how memory, materiality, and human connection shape our understanding of home.

home away from home invites audiences to consider how belonging is created when it’s not inherited, and how home exists not only in architecture or geography but within the stories, relationships, and histories we carry with us. The exhibition honors the quiet courage of those who have had to rebuild in unfamiliar places and celebrates the enduring capacity to create sanctuary wherever we find ourselves.

Special gratitude is extended to Carl-Philippe Juste, founder of IPC ArtSpace, whose vision has established the space as an essential cultural anchor within Little Haiti. As a world-renowned photographer, community advocate, and civic leader, Juste has dedicated his career to documenting and uplifting. His enduring commitment to cultural preservation, artistic excellence, and collective empowerment continues to create opportunities for artists and audiences alike to gather, reflect, and build meaningful connections.

Press Release written by Zee Lopez Del Carmen