At Belles & Boots, the first round comes with a side of sparkle. Suspended on the ceiling of the LoDo country bar is a massive mirrored cowboy boot, catching every flicker of neon and candlelight in the room. It’s the work of Lauren Young, the Denver-based artist behind Abstruse, whose disco sculptures turn everyday objects into full-blown spectacle.
Lauren hand-sculpted the boot’s worn, working silhouette in her studio over the course of three weeks, then meticulously applied thousands of mirror tiles by hand, a process she lovingly calls “painting with glass.” The boot joins a growing lineup of icons in her portfolio, including a giant disco chicken, supersized fruit, and mirrored chilies. “A cowboy boot becomes a chandelier,” she says. “A chili becomes a sculpture. A chicken becomes art.” Scale up the ordinary, and it turns magical again. If the boot is any indication, Lauren’s just getting started, and Denver’s ceilings might want to brace themselves.
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