Lauren Downton is a ceramic and installation artist living and working on Kaurna Country, South Australia. Her practice explores of themes of hybridity, entanglement, ecology and material culture. She is currently completing a PhD in Ceramics (Visual Arts) at Adelaide University.

Downton was selected to exhibit in the 2022 Hatched: National Graduate Exhibition at the Perth Institute of Contemporary Art. She was a finalist in the 2024 Gallery M Contemporary Art Prize and was selected for the 2024 Helpmann Academy Exhibition, where she received the Fetzer Award for Excellence and City Rural Insurance Development Awards. She has received multiple awards from the University of South Australia (now Adelaide University), including the Australian Ceramics Association Award (2023), Australian Decorative & Fine Arts Society Award (2023) and Harry P. Gill Memorial Medal for outstanding ceramics (2021), among others.

Downton’s work has featured in publications including Art Edit Magazine, The Journal of Australian Ceramics and InDaily’s InReview. Since completing her Honours degree, she has additionally contributed to the field of ceramics through published writing, including an article for Garland Magazine’s LAND issue (vol. 35, 2024) and The Journal of Australian Ceramics (vol. 63, no. 2, July 2024).