Laura Malone – Art and Cake

Laura Malone
Oakland, CA
Age 70

What keeps you excited in the studio?
Chasing after what Catherine Bradford called “that one good painting.” Always trying to dig deeper, to reach the most essential. Knowing I will never reach it is strangely exciting, kind of like swimming toward the bottom of a dark sea, not knowing where the bottom is or walking blindfolded through your own house.

Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed?
It’s changed in a lot of ways, and also stayed the same, kind of like we do as people.We are still the same person no matter how much we change. But to be specific, I’ve gotten much braver with color and gesture than when I was younger. I’m pretty much ready to try anything with color and don’t worry about ruining a painting if I have an impulse to do something really out there. I’ve been painting a lot of green people lately.

What role do you think the artist has in today’s society?
Artists are truth tellers. We feel compelled to say what we may not want to, and we.may not understand it until after it is said. I do still think beauty is important; it transports the mundane into the spiritual. Ultimately we are meaning makers and hopefully others are impacted by this.

What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist?
Don’t put it off – if you have the itch to create it is not going to go away! Come to terms with whatever is hard about that so you can do what you want to and have to. Also, don’t try so hard. Being fully present is going to make the best work.

Does age matter in art? Why or why not?
I guess it depends upon what you mean by “matter” and to whom. Certainly life experience has deepened my work – it is more complex and layered (both literally and figuratively.) From a marketability standpoint age can certainly get in the way. I used to always think I was too young. Then suddenly I was “too old.” Until I realized finally that I just couldn’t let it matter. You just have to trust that you’re doing what you were born to do. I do think that ageism is in a sense the last “ism” – the one that rarely gets talked about, so I appreciate the question. I have included this as a theme in my recent work.

What can we look forward to from you next?
Once I have finished my current body of work, which will be showing in September, I am going to resume a collection of paintings done on sheer, layered fabric, gently blown with fans casting moving shadows. The theme will be an exploration of impermanence. My mother is 97 and she will be the central figure in these works.

Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life?
What you’ve lost in stamina you’ve gained in efficiency. And you recognize that the most important thing is to be loving and truthful with yourself. Suffering is not as necessary to making good work as you may have thought in your younger “emo” years.

https://www.lauramaloneart.com
@lauramaloneart