Lawrence Andrews: An Interview

Lawrence Andrews’ work includes video, photography, installation, audio projects, and animation, focusing on issues of race, identity, and power. In this interview, he offers a deeply personal and reflective account of his journey from a politically charged childhood in Washington, D.C. to his expansive artistic and academic career.

He discusses formative experiences, photographing protests as a teenager, his accidental path into the arts, and the role of archives in sustaining creative and political memory. Andrews reflects on the socio-political context of his upbringing, the limitations and opportunities shaped by economic and institutional structures, and how those realities fed into his experimental practice with photography, video, and performance. He speaks candidly about the tensions between aesthetic experimentation and political engagement, as well as the evolving demands of academia and technology on artistic labor. His reflections highlight the intersection of personal history, institutional critique, and a continuous search for meaning through form, space, and collective memory.