Laura Larson
Los Angeles, CA
Age 73
What keeps you excited in the studio?
Basically, curiosity drives me, researching small and big picture issues, finding ways to address these issues, using storytelling and serial objects within a space that encourages a gestalt for the viewer.
Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed?
I can’t recall a time when I wasn’t making something. When I was a child, I played with dolls and made clothes for them and furniture for their houses. I made up stories about their lives. Through the schools I attended, I availed myself of drawing and theatre classes, and participated in plays. My real awakening was working for Judy Chicago and Susan Hill in the embroidery loft on the Dinner Party and learning about women’s history. The culmination of these experiences created a foundation for researching history and then presenting my version of it to viewers in a serial manner. My first professional work was centered on being a woman in the 1970’s and what it meant to be living a “traditional woman’s role,” airbrushing landscapes and appliquéd women and institutions to create surreal suburban tableaus on linen napkins. In the 1980’s I began researching my Scandinavian history through Viking lore – creating Rune pictures and 3 dimensional shields. Strangely these shields led me to Public Art where I used the shield shape to identify the 3 medallions on the traffic light now living on the 2 entry columns of a DOT building. For over a decade I enjoyed working with the city of LA and Pasadena along with various communities to create integrated artwork for several other Public Art projects. Concurrently I was beginning an investigation of the ramifications of being a woman through the body/mind/spirit triumvirate. These were separate series in separate exhibits. First, I tackled the MIND. I wondered how other women felt historically about their identity. So I created “The Looking Glass Lounge,” making personal vanities and etching mirrors with quotes from fictional women from novels like Jane Eyre. In this Lounge installation we see how each protagonist feels about herself in her time period. Next, I created a series about the BODY called “Epidermis Emporium.” Here I carved small styrofoam toros of various historical ideals of women’s bodies (torsos) in a timeline from ancient “Venus of Willendorf” to Halley Berry’s gorgeous figure. Also included, was a series of men and women covered in silver, bronze and gold leaf. Each color represented how we attribute inferior and superior status to body types and color of skin. The SPIRIT came as “Grace and Glory” with a series of Pious and Powerful Women executed as “busts” in various assemblages. As I moved through these phases, I learned more and more about myself, and my purpose for being here. Depending on the message for each series, I have developed skills in crafting sculpture as well as other mediums and techniques including photography and photoshop, sewing and embroidery and modeling clay for bronze hybrid animals. Now I realize my purpose has become the bigger picture relating to our relationship with nature, species extinction due to climate change, habitat loss and unchecked greed. I have been working with my husband, Dean, to create new stories to describe how we got here, to inspire viewers to think about other species and to do it in a way that might also arouse empathy, understanding and comradeship with our fellow creatures.
What role do you think the artist has in today’s society?
I can’t speak for all artists as I believe that we all come into this world with our own purpose. But if there was one thing, I would wish for us to be, it would be shamans. Or at the very least in the absence of spirit and the presence of our hunger for more and more, I feel that we as artists need to embody the Shaman’s desire to heal and inspire hope, to bring spirit and reciprocity back to our world. We need to remind people that we are not the only being and not the most important beings on this planet and that it is not all about commerce and what we can monetize but what we can contribute. Because, We Are All In This World Together.
What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist?
Be ready for an interesting life. You will never be bored. Being an artist is more of a calling than a choice in my opinion. Stick with it and you will find your path. You may not become famous or have tons of shows, and you most probably will have a day job, but if you enjoy the process of making art and want to contribute to the world in this way you will find great satisfaction.
Does age matter in art? Why or why not?
Yes and no. Our society is still basically youth based, and fast paced. Spontaneity and speed are not the hallmark of elders. Also, I feel that the newest trends will entice most dealers and curators. But if one has practiced artmaking for as long as I have, one can still revel in new ideas and create work with the skills honed by age.
What can we look forward to from you next?
Something magical.
Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life?
Ok, we may have sore hips, knees, backs, arthritis etc. But an artist will most likely find a way to work around it.
https://www.larsonart.net
@lauralinnlarson
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