In a recent exhibition of artists' work in a Brooklyn event space, Hilary Lorenz showed a drawing entitled, "Laughing Caterpillar." In the drawing, a tubular mass of teeny red and black circles suggesting the cellular forms of reproduction fans out in Peacock sprays of interlocking and concentric semicircles of bright green, yellow, purple, orange and red-an image recalling the Partridge Family. The work displays Lorenz's endless fascination with organic shapes and the clean, simple topographical beauty of nature.

And though she doesn't force many connections between her art and her other life passions or her personal history, Lorenz is a bit of a laughing caterpillar herself-perhaps a little shy and tentative but ready to transform at any moment into a burst of color. By never following the obvious course, Lorenz has measured success on her own terms and according to her own timeline in both her art and her running. With new art shows and fellowships as well as her very first ever marathon on the horizon after a near 20-year hiatus from running, Lorenz is now witnessing (at least to this theme-seeking outsider) the many complex strains of her past coming together.

Growing up in the small factory-scarred town of Montague on the shores of Lake Michigan, Lorenz did not entertain escapist dreams of becoming an artist. She had never even heard of the profession. "We did not have art, music, or theater," she says. "I had never even been to an art museum." But Lorenz didn't need finger paints and an easel to develop the soul of an artist. She sensitively observed her often dreary surroundings, in which big chemical companies polluted the air and waters while everyone silently accepted their powerlessness against the biggest employers in town. Four of Lorenz's friends died of leukemia while she was in high school. "I thought it was normal for people to have cancer," she says.

Though she knew by age 10 (after seeing the movie "Rear Window" made her desire an apartment that looked onto a brick wall) that she would eventually move to New York City, Lorenz made the most of small town Michigan life, finding her inner mirth in running fast. "It was amazing," she says, "I am a fast kid and, yes, I do get obsessive about my activities." Lorenz describes a routine that consisted of running before school, at track practice and then again after dinner. She was running 5:50 miles at the time, but injuries and illnesses sidelined her for much of the rest of her high school running career.

Once she arrived at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Lorenz began embarking on other adventures. "My second semester at college, I took a design class and I knew-this is what I want to study," she says. She lucked into a job as a research assistant in an immunology lab where she studied and photographed cellular structures. Though seemingly miles apart from her chosen course of study, the examination and sequencing of DNA greatly informed her future artwork. She created installations from lab items and developed a fascination with genetically engineered animals. "I have a lot of really creepy mice photos," she admits.

After receiving her BS in Fine Arts and pursuing graduate work in printmaking, Lorenz made her way to New York in 1993, taking up residence in the epicenter of the art world-the Lower East Side's Suffolk Street. "I worked like mad in the studio and at a community printmaking workshop," she says of how she managed to make it in a city with more than 300,000 artists and only 500 galleries, "I made a lot of connections." Check out Lorenz's CV online (her website is, aptly, www.hilarylorenz.com) and you'll see just how many. She has shown in an astonishing number of group and solo exhibitions.

In 2005, Lorenz's passion for art and her love of physical activity, which had lain somewhat dormant for almost two decades, collided. Lured by a Sierra Club ad she saw during an artist-in-residence stint in Santa Fe, Lorenz decided to take up hiking and had a revelation. "We did a 17-mile hike that began with 90-degree heat and ended on a snow-topped mountain," she says. "I never felt so high." This feeling of elation turned into a muse, and Lorenz has since been drawing and printing works that lovingly record her movement through nature.

In the summer of 2006, a hiking friend suggested that Lorenz participate in the Nike NYC half marathon, which runs through Central Park into Times Square and ends in downtown Manhattan. The whole experience unlocked Lorenz's long forgotten love of running. "I got rather weepy before the start and at the finish," she says. "In some ways I felt like that kid again running but this time doing it on my own terms and for me, not to prove
anything to anyone else."

Lorenz took about six months off after the 2006 Nike Half and then decided to commit herself fully to running and became a regular at Front Runner training events. (She had first seen the club "looking so cute in their singlets" at the Pride March in 2006 and came twice that summer but trailed off after the Nike Half.) Delving into hill and speedwork made Lorenz feel strong and curious of what her body would be capable of with her mind dedicated to fitness. "I want to be as fast as I possibly can," she says.

Now there's a worthy long term goal. She's only at the beginning of the quest and has already lopped 17 minutes off her 2006 half marathon time by running a 1:50:44 at Grete's Great Gallop this October. Looking focused and hungry, she has been a dutiful speed warrior at the track at Riverbank stadium all fall and hopes to break 3:50 at this year's NYC marathon. But no matter how much time transpires between the Verrazano-Narrows and Tavern on the Green, Lorenz knows it will be an emotional journey. "I think I will cry when I complete the NYC marathon," she says. "I always dreamed of running it when I was a kid, but for whatever reason some things get sidelined."

Maybe there were stops and starts along the way, but now Lorenz is moving ahead full throttle. She will become a race captain for Front Runners at the beginning of 2008 and is gearing up for a 6-week winter art project where she will live electricity and water free in a shack in Provincetown, Massachusetts. "I will make drawings that are essentially visual maps of my daily life," she explains.   The world may finally get to see the imprint of a dune-filled morning jog on a beautiful open canvas.

Random Data

Lower East Side Soundbite - "I don't like all the party kids.  I would take the heroin addicts any day-at least they were quiet."

Mental Health Day? - Backpacking the Adirondacks 

Best Book of 2007? - The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston

Artistic Holy Grail? - "There is no one Holy Grail, but being in the Whitney Biennial would be nice."

FRNY Suggestion Box? - "I wish I could offer a solution, but to rally all 400 members (almost 500, really) to participate."