Laura Barr
Featured Artist working With Paint on Canvas Compositions
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’m attracted to 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 and 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, a quarry, or a sea.
The “Here and There” panels, which feature carefully curated and
arranged collections of 4” x 6” paintings, are intended to be viewed as one work. More often than subject matter, color plays the dominant role in their creation. The paintings are float mounted on the panels, revealing dimension and casting shadows. The small canvases are “postcard size.” and depict evocative moments. They have been described as “visual haikus.” Sometimes playful, they are most often moments of transporting quiet solitude. 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.”