LAURA LAMEY

The recent focus of my work is on landscape-inspired abstraction. The process involves an interchangeable relationship between drawing and thinking. The cathartic physical act of mark making allows me to think productively; the drawings become a record of an inner dialogue. It’s sometimes as though I am writing without words. 

Although there is visually a connection to the landscape, ambiguity persists in recent paintings, as shapes and forms fight the call to be defined. As in abstraction, to comfortably welcome ambiguity in our lives, leaves us open to greater possibility and potential. In painting and in life, our ability to embrace the ambiguous allows us to be open to things that are new or that we may not understand; including people, values, and circumstances. Our human capacity for understanding and acceptance is greater when we are able to place value on things we can not measure or define with data. Without labeling and defining, we leave room for growth and novelty.  

The metaphors in shoreline erosion and resistance are fitting inspiration for my work. Along the coast, relevant themes are abound: fluctuation, formation, disruption, decay, renewal. Much like the land under the influence of natural forces, we are subject to character formation through our own relationships and experiences. At times we are shaped, and at times we resist. Fissures and faults on the the most rugged surfaces expose a vulnerability that introduces the potential for change.

Just as these fissures and faults allow the elements to transform the landscape, when we are vulnerable, we are open to the experience of being changed. The fiercest of conditions, the most difficult of life’s challenges have the capacity to alter. We continually adjust, respond, and repurpose, adapting changing circumstances. However unsettling, the disruption shapes us. 

Laura Lamey

October 2018