9.17.12 Featured Artist: Laurel Garcia Colvin

In the practice of my art I explore what it is to be a human in this world, both individually and collectively. I am interested in how the human psyche perceives and constructs reality, subjective experiences, illusion and disillusion. I render narrative figurative images, often in a fragmented way, to evoke emotional, psychological, or spiritual states and suggest human vulnerability when facing the discrepancy between desires and reality.

The New American Toile Remnant (day laborers), 2010, graphite and gouache on fabric mounted on paper, 16 x 16in

My recent work of mixed media drawings on fabric mounted on wood panels (“The New American Toile” series), fabric remnants (“The New American Toile Remnants” series) mounted on paper, and prints (“The Vignette” series) of drawn vignettes use the French 18th century designs of Toile de Jouy as the starting point. I juxtapose the background printed fabric narrative of a pastoral past populated by idyllic figures with a foreground of contemporary situations. Homelessness, gun violence, and other current controversies are in direct contrast to the nostalgic, sanitized, leisurely decorum of these historical toile patterns. The overlay of silhouettes and detailed renderings of figures inhabiting this fragmented world create visual commentaries on the contradictions, changes and complexities of contemporary life. With undertones of foreboding, wanting and dismay, these works delve into the world of reality and fantasy, and provide a visual space to reflect on and reconsider the relationship between what remains, what is scrapped and what is made new in society’s collective consciousness.

Laurel Garcia Colvin’s work has exhibited in solo and group shows in several galleries throughout the United States and abroad and had a recent residency at the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, Ithaca, NY. Garcia Colvin received her BFA and MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, and did post-graduate studies at Pratt Institute. Upcoming exhibitions include: “25,” Target Gallery, the Torpedo Factory, VA (September 8 – 30), Artists Wanted Gallery, Long Island City, NY (September 17 – October 18), “The Ballot Box,” BRC gallery, Peekskill, NY (October 15 -November 24), and the Saratoga Arts Center, NY (Fall, 2014). She lives and works in Chappaqua, New York.

Artist website: laurelgarciacolvin.com