Meet Lauren Citron | Animator, Illustrator, & Creator of Glass Zine

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lauren Citron and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lauren, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
The way my zine Glass came to life was inspired by a combination of things. I was really inspired by zines like Hallogallo and Phase Zero and the messages they stood for. One summer day in 2023, my friend Erin suggested I could create my own zine, and the idea came to me very quickly. I knew I wanted this project to be collaborative, involving all of my amazing creative friends I had made throughout my life – particularly at SCAD Atlanta. I wanted my zine to align with my philosophy of art: collaboration, experimentation, and recognition. With that in mind, I invite multidisciplinary artists whose perspective I am moved by to create their own page in the latest volume of Glass. I reach out to stockists around the world to carry the zine with the intent to inspire all readers.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
My name is Lauren Citron and I am a 2D animator and illustrator. I could tell you that I pursued animation because I was inspired by cartoons growing up. The real answer is that I am in the creative field because I didn’t have a choice. I was constantly drawing as a child, to the point of failing my academic classes. Nothing created a spark in me like art did, anything else made me bored to tears. Now at art school, I have surrounded myself with creative people. They have inspired me to try new art forms and see things with fresh eyes. One thing remains the same, though: I have stories and ideas to share to the point of not being able to sleep until I know they are out there in the world. I will follow that spark forever, no matter what. That is why I am here to share with you my exciting ongoing project: an art zine called Glass.

Zines are historically countercultural. Glass being something physical that you have to hold in your hands instead of see online is countercultural in itself in this digital age. Additionally, all of the artists featured have multiple talents and are not completely focused on one form of art. Not only does that set Glass apart from other zines, but it sets the members of the community apart from other artists. Glass is living proof that artists can be – and should be – skilled in many things. This zine is about collaboration, experimentation, and creating art.

Every step of creating Glass has been a huge risk, right down to inviting my friends to be a part of the first volume. Without risk, fear and laziness plague the mind. “What if no one cares?” “What if everyone thinks this idea is lame?” “Maybe I should forget about this and go back on TikTok to watch somebody else do it” are all thoughts I have ignored during this process. Every time I swallow my pride and put myself out there, it has opened so many new doors and opportunities. Every cent that I have spent on this zine has been well worth it. All of the risks I have taken for Glass are worth their weight in gold.

The biggest lesson I have learned from making Glass is that it is okay to surrender control. Every time I let someone take the wheel on a certain aspect, I have never regretted it for a second. I always have a vision for how I want things to go or look, but what I have learned is that I am not always capable of doing it alone. Moreover, when I involve other talented people, they take my vision and surpass every expectation I had. For example, for the cover of Glass Volume Two: See Thru, I knew how I wanted the cover to look. I found this piece of fabric and could see the vision for it as soon as I touched it. During the shoot, my friend Jackson asked if he could shoot a few photos himself, so I gave him the camera. When looking through the photos, I adored the ones he shot. I used his pictures for the cover and several of the spreads for the interior. If I would’ve used the ones I shot, it would be a very different zine! Another example is when it came time to throw the launch party for the third volume, I was a little bit out of steam. My friend Ali supported me wholeheartedly and by giving her full creative freedom, Glass Haus was born – and the biggest crowd at a launch party to date.

Glass is a talent catalogue. I want a young interior designer that’s been messing around with a camera lately to flip through the latest volume of Glass and find a fashion designer to reach out to and say, “Hey, let me shoot some of your designs” and get an experience doing a project in photography. I want an art collector to scan the pages and buy a punk rock bassist’s latest large scale collage piece for their home. Whenever someone is stumped on who to collaborate with next, who’s art to buy, or who to hire for their job opening, I want them to pick up Glass and find their answer.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Each artist that takes the time to collaborate with me on a volume of Glass makes the zine the wonderful thing that it is. Every shop owner hosting my zine in their store, every person that buys it, and everyone that shows up to the events are solely responsible for the success of the zine. The contagious excitement is what pushes me to keep going. Thank you so much for your support!

Website: https://glasszine.bigcartel.com

Instagram: @glasszine

Other: Glass is always looking for multi talented artists to join the community. Please reach out to glasszine@outlook.com to collaborate. Thank you!