Laura Barr

Stony Creek, CT

Website
www.laurabarrart.com 

Social Media
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How would you describe your work?

My work explores color, transparency, reflection and light. I am interested in the theme of impermanence; I depict blissful, fleeting, transcendent moments where the ordinary becomes extraordinary. I work at the intersection of representation and abstraction, simplifying form and creating compositions with strong underlying geometry. I enjoy the materiality of paint. I often use scale to illuminate my focus. I work in series. I am drawn to water and am concerned with its preservation and protection. It’s a common thread in my painting, whether in a glass, a pool, a river, quarry, or sea. 

What inspires you?

I’m inspired by color, light and strong, graphic compositions in the extraordinary earth we inhabit. 

Can you speak about your process?

My process can be different for each series. My mediums are primarily oil, oil pastel and gouache. For my various series of glasses on tabletops, which includes “Water Glass”, “Color of Water” and “Water and Linen”, I work directly from life. The larger I work, the more abstract the work becomes.  For my “Here and There” series, I take photographs for paintings and sort them by color rather than subject. I then paint on 4” x 6” canvas boards using the photographs as rough visual reference, as well as relying on memory and experience. Finally I float mount the paintings on panels I’ve designed and created. For my “Ocean Elegy” series of underwater pieces, I work primarily from screen captures, compositions I create while exploring Underwater Google Earth. More detail about each series:

GLASS SERIES (WATER GLASS, COLOR OF WATER AND WATER + LINEN SERIES)

The subject of liquids in glass vessels on tabletops has long been a fascination. These everyday objects contain worlds of color and light. I am interested not only in what is contained within the glass vessels, but in the space around them. The shadows, reflections and refractions are of equal importance. In these paintings of 38" x 48", the glasses are "larger than life". The abstract shapes of color unite to create form.

HERE AND THERE SERIES

The “Here and There” panels, which feature carefully curated and arranged collections of small canvases, are intended to be viewed as one work. Color, more often than subject matter, plays the dominant role in their creation. The 4 inches by 6 inches or “post card size” canvases depict fleeting, evocative moments or memories, and reflect life’s impermanence. They have been described as “visual haikus”. Sometimes playful, they are often moments of transporting quiet solitude, of awe and wonder at the beauty in our universe. In the act of viewing one is taken away for a meditative moment or even, perhaps an "oceanic experience". The paintings are float mounted on the panels, revealing dimension and casting shadows. The negative space, or what is known in Japan as “Ma”, is important in these panels. It provides space between the figurative "notes" of the paintings. At the same time, the use of a grid and simple framing presentation is suggestive of a bento box; each painting is to be enjoyed on its own but is an important part of a whole. The series evolved during the 2020 pandemic, a time when many were feeling wistful about travel and connection. An alternate title for the series could be “Wish You Were Here”.

OCEAN ELEGY SERIES

Works in the Ocean Elegy series are visual odes that celebrate the beauty of the underwater world. Beneath their outer guise of beauty, they hint at a bleak future in which we will only be able to view sea life in aquarium museums that fabricate what we have lost in our natural environment. They are expressive, observation-based paintings, informed by Google Earth screen captures to reveal otherwise unknowable, unchartered waters and imagine a world untouched by human activity. They depict fleeting moments in the hidden depths of the planet’s vast oceans.

How did you become interested in art?

I’ve been interested in art for as long as I can remember. My mother painted, and when I was six I asked for an “oil paint set” and received one. I still have paintings I created using paint and materials from that set. I was also fortunate to live near New York City and was exposed to museums there as a child. I especially enjoyed visiting the junior Museum of Modern Art and still have a vivid memory of a hands-on tool that allowed children to explore mixing transparent primary colors. I’ve always enjoyed making things, regardless of medium. As a senior in high school I spent my last semester doing nothing but drawing and painting for my senior project. I have a BA in Art History from Tufts University and a BFA in Fine Art from Tufts University’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts. The Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum were steps away from the SMFA. I also had the opportunity to study for a semester in Rome, Italy while in college. 

Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books or quotes?

Artists who I feel akin to, or have been influenced by, or admire, include Hopper, Thibaud, Hockney, Bonnard, Alex Katz, Fairfield Porter, Yvonne Jacquette, Barnet Rubenstein, with whom I studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, and Lois Dodd. 

Favorite quotes: 

"The world always seems brighter when you've just made something that wasn't there before." - Neil Gaiman 

"Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is painting that is felt rather than seen." - Leonardo da Vinci 

"Art is the longing of the soul for something better than itself." - Friedrich Nietzsche 

What advice do you have for younger artists?: 

My advice for younger artists is to do what brings you joy, so that you enjoy the process. Dedicate yourself to the practice of creating, which is a balance of work and play. You can’t foresee what directions your work will take, but it won’t go anywhere, if you don’t keep at it.