artist statement

Spontaneous images of curious beings arrive behind closed eyes through meditation. I recall now how I used to do this as a kid, as a form of escape or to relieve boredom.Some may call it daydreaming. I call it sketching. I let these visions surface naturally, but the colors, textures and shapes are drawn from a visual archive influenced by many personal interests, including human anatomy, flora and fauna, strange sea life and growths from the forest floor. Spiritual abstraction, cinematic special effects and prop fabrication, surrealist film, and intuitive geometry also intrigue me. I inspect and experiment with these “thought forms” internally until they reach a state where they are ready to be created physically.

My background as an artist was in figurative realism until 2020 when I felt compelled to abandon the figure and explore abstraction. I realized that I had become disconnected from the intuitive art that I had once been able to access so fearlessly in my youth. Becoming a mother (as I did in 2017) forces you to connect with your intuition in ways you never thought possible. I was all of a sudden very aware of how if something didn’t feel right, it was somehow unsafe, untrue. Or at least a waste of precious studio time. I was bound to create harmony and seek pleasure, even if that harmony is found in the discomfort of facing the harshness of certain realities.

I first create colored pencil drawings or small maquettes of my visions, then translate them into larger three-dimensional form, using wood, foam, paperclay, Pal Tiya, paint, resin, and various other materials. Using scraps from the studio and recycled materials is important when I’m building up my form. Anything is up for grabs - tinfoil, plaster bandage, chicken wire, fabric leftover from my home sewing projects, and lots of cardboard and styrofoam collected from deliveries. Once the underlying structures have been built, the form is further established with a skin of paperclay or Pal Tiya. My background in traditional painting techniques inform how I then finish them in smooth gradients and layers of color. My knowledge of Art and Architectural Restoration practices ensures that my pieces are structurally sound and will hold up over timewhether indoors or outside. My experience in special effects, prop fabrication and mold making techniques gives me the ability to create any shape and texture I can imagine.My time spent with my dad tinkering in the garage gives me a fearlessness around power tools.

It’s important to know how all of the various materials and techniques will interact (chemically, physically, and visually) to produce something that is viable. If I am successful in my experiment, the resulting form offers a path into the subconscious. I am motivated by the exploration of how these forms possess specific vibrations and energies, and how they have the power to effect change in the physical realm by provoking thought and feeling within the viewer.

work history

exhibition history

press

get in touch

lauralitart@gmail.com