A Pop of Color: Greg Lundgren’s Urns

Greg Lundgren.
(credit: thestranger.com)

Urns are an end of life element that fall into a particular stereotype, or rather, expectation: to be constructed in that familiar hourglass form in a subdued, somber medium (ex. marble, bronze). But that’s not the case for Seattle’s Greg Lundgdren.

The Northwesterner says he concerns himself with where art meets death, and has designed numerous cemetery monuments and urns with a contemporary twist. “People ask me, ‘Is this for real?’ They think it’s an art experiment,” he explained to Seattle Magazine in 2012, describing the experience pedestrians have when they catch a glimpse of his headstones in one of the two Seattle art bars he owns (The Hideout and Vito’s).

“People ask me, ‘Is this for real?’ They think it’s an art experiment…”

— Greg Lundgren on his work

Yes, he also owns bars. Lundgren is a vibrant member of his community’s social and art scene, and the unapologetic intermingling of his passions forces people to reconsider the endroits where it is and isn’t “okay” to talk about death. For Lundgren, death does not have to inhabit the dreary, hush-hush conversational space that it’s so often cornered into. Nor should our selections in end-of life planning be so dated.

Credit: lifebylife.com

“The [death] industry has changed very little since WWII,” Lundgren said, “There’s no impetus to innovate, so it doesn’t evolve.” Lundgren spoke in reference to one of the most powerful distributors of funeral goods, Service Corporation International (SCI), which he describes as “The Walmart of death, only giv[ing] you choices A, B or C. [The industry has] no craftspeople involved, no artists.”

“My clients are the ones saying, ‘Those are my options? I’m looking at brochures from the 1960s. Are you kidding?’”

— Greg Lundgren on funeral and end-of-life planning

Credit: lundgren monuments

One collection of Lundgren’s urns pop with color and individuality – many have dubbed them “the Easter egg urns.” Pinks, greens and blues preside over the playful forms, which create a cheery atmosphere in the home. And isn’t that what you’d want, in association with the life of someone you love? “Look at the arc of someone’s life,” he says, “They go from a person of style to being put in an anonymous container. It’s an injustice. [This kind of urn is] a natural evolution, just beyond the flatware line,” Lundgren says. “If Chanel made an urn? It would be huge.”

There’s real accessibility and optimism in Lundgren’s outlook on the death and dying – but he’s very serious about his goals as an artist. “I want the creative class to engage in conversation about death,” he says, “[about] mortality and cultural identity.”

Explore more of SevenPonds’ Soulful Expressions here.