Lauri Gaffin is an inventive set decorator & photographer with four decades of experience in the film industry.

Los Angeles based artist Lauri Gaffin’s work has been featured in numerous Hollywood films, both independent hits and blockbuster franchises, including Fargo, The Pursuit of Happyness, Six Days Seven Nights, The Ring II, Charlie’s Angels, Iron Man,Thor, and Captain Marvel. In Moving Still, she shares her artistic process and perspective on making movies, inviting readers to explore the intersection of creativity, collaboration, and looking in.

Raised in Los Angeles, Gaffin earned her BA in Photography at UCLA, where she studied primarily with Robert Heinecken as well as with artists Peter Goulds, Rita Yokoi, and filmmaker Shirley Clarke. She received an MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 1977, mentored by conceptual artist John Baldessari and artist Lucas Samaras. At CalArts, she studied with Laurie Anderson, John Mandel, Mike Kelley, and Douglas Huebler. Gaffin’s work has been featured at Harris & Ruble Art, and can be found in the permanent collection of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

SET DECORATOR

Thor (Feature Film) Marvel Entertainment
Director: Kenneth Branagh, Production Designer: Bo Welch

Iron Man 2 (Feature Film) Marvel Entertainment
Director: Jon Favreau, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Land of the Lost (Feature Film) Universal Pictures
Director: Brad Silberling, Production Designer: Bo Welch

Iron Man (Feature Film) Marvel Entertainment
Director: Jon Favreau, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Pursuit of Happyness (Feature Film) Columbia Pictures
Director: Gabriele Muccino, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Zathura (Feature Film) Columbia Pictures
Director: John Favreau, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

The Ring 2 (Feature Film) Dreamworks
Director: Hideo Nakata, Production Design: Jim Bissell

Charlie’s Angels II (Feature Film) Columbia Pictures
Director: McG, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Mr. Deeds (Feature Film) Columbia Pictures
Director: Steve Brill, Production Designer: Perry Blake

Evolution (Feature Film) Columbia Pictures
Director: Ivan Reitman, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Charlie’s Angels (Feature Film) Columbia Pictures
Director: McG, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Mission Impossible II (Feature Film) (Los Angeles) Paramount Pictures
Director: John Woo, Production Designer: Tom Sanders

Tuesdays With Morrie (MOW) ABC
Director: Mix Jackson, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

House on Haunted Hill (Feature Film) Warner Bros.
Director: Bill Malone, Production Designer: David Klassen

Lethal Weapon 4 (Feature Film) Warner Bros.
Director: Richard Donner, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Six Days, Seven Nights (Feature Film) Disney
Director: Ivan Reitman, Production Designer: J. Michael Riva

Father’s Day (Feature Film) Warner Bros.
Director: Ivan Reitman, Production Designer: Tom Sanders

Fargo (Feature Film) Polygram Filmed Entertainment
Director: Joel Cohen, Production Designer: Rick Heinricks

Ruby (Feature Film) Propaganda Films
Director: John McKensie, Production Designer: David Brisbin

Tales From the Crypt (Feature Film) HBO
Directors: Richard Donner, Robert Zemeckis, Walter Hill, Howard Deutsch Production Designer: Ginny Randolph-Weaver

Big Man on Campus (Feature Film) Vestron
Director: Jeremy Kagan, Production Designer: Richard Sawyer

Slow Burn (Feature Film) Showtime
Director: Matthew Chapman, Production Designer: Bo Welch

EDUCATION
Master of Fine Art, California Institute of the Arts Bachelor of Fine Art (Photography), UCLA

EXHIBITIONS
2011 Hold Still, Harris & Ruble Gallery, Santa Monica, California (exhibition catalogue)
2011 International Women in Photography, Honorable Mention, Photo L.A., Santa Monica, California
2008 Pulling Back the Drapes, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, Beverly Hills, California
2004 The Secret Life of Sets, Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences Galleries, Los Angeles, California
1982 Hama, Venice, California
1981 Visible Light Gallery, Santa Barbara, California
1981 Westbeach, Venice, California
1980 Santa Barbara Small Image Show, Santa Barbara, California
1978 California Institute of the Arts, Newhall, California

COLLECTORS
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Hal Fredricks
Laddie Dill
Joanne Callis
Krista Levitan
Mark Johnson
Florence Fellman
Waldemar Kalinowski
Wayne McCall
Jim Gartner
Jeremiah Chechik
Linda Stewart
Lisa Day
Nancy Kennedy

PRESS

“Production Design in the 21st Century”
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences
Lauri Gaffin speaks about her career and the evolution of production design.

“The Secret Life of Sets: Set Decorators at Work”
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences
A unique exhibition celebrating the art of contemporary set decoration.

”Pulling Back the Drapes: Set Decoration Revealed”
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences
SDSA Set Decorators Society of America
Exhibition highlights the creative work of selected artists.

“Once Upon A Pad”
By Barbara Thornburg
Los Angeles Times Magazine
On the movie set of Charlie’s Angeles, a fantasy bachelor hangout with all the comforts of home.

“Back to the Future”
By Jil Peters
Sunset magazine
Feature article on Lauri’s restoration of her modern classic home.

“How ‘Captain Marvel’ nails ‘90s nostalgia in a Blockbuster video store”
By Reed Tucker
New York Post
A nostalgic leap back to 1995, blending superhero origin with meticulous ’90s set recreations—like Blockbuster, dial-up internet, and retro props—to establish the character’s unique place in the Marvel universe.