PAINTING AND COLLAGE

Artist Statement
I make hand drawn paintings and collages on paper about human connection with the natural world and the friction created by man-made systems, cultural norms, and societal expectations. Using acrylics, ink, graphite, magazines, encyclopedias and upcycled books, the works are playful but pointed - part celebration of beauty, part subtle reminder of our responsibility as a species with the gift of forethought.
From a distance, the paintings may seem serene – coral or sea anemones floating in space – but look closer: teeth are tucked in like precious stones. The message is that we are not separate from nature; we are nature, and the ocean reflects who we are more clearly than any mirror.
I deeply value the ancient intelligence, rhythms and systems of the earth and fear that our willful manipulation of it is our downfall. My interest in the living world took root growing up in a practical, working family, through time spent outdoors in daily life and on simple, no-frills state park vacations.
Following the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, I began drawing marine vegetation and coral, integrating human teeth. Inspired by traditional East Asian art, I use linework and flat fields of color as structural elements, gradually adding hybrid, biomorphic, and anatomical forms. In these works, I seek to uncover what is elemental by stripping objects down into simple architecture and unexpected relationships.
Using reference books, National Geographic magazines and maps inserts, and fashion publications, I also create collaged habitats and landscapes about environmental degradation and disposable culture. Sometimes these take the form of botanical arrangements containing 1950s fishing lures called "Go-Gettums," which resemble swarming, non-thinking masses with expressions of apathy and confusion.
By stacking and layering cut paper from magazines and books, I also build collage-based "postcards" that blend vivid aesthetics with dystopian themes—visualizing synthetic landscapes of melting glaciers, fast fashion, and breathing tubes that highlight the disruption caused by climate change and overconsumption.
Bio
Education
Collections
Exhibitions
Related Experience
Laura Klopfenstein grew up in Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, and Texas. Connecting with nature and engaging deeply with books served as her constants, both rooted in a desire to learn, understand different people, and step fully into other worlds. Now a mother of two young adults, she finds inspiration in their curiosity and presence, reminding her to stay in the moment. Balancing parenthood and a career in higher education research communications, she carved out her own creative systems to sustain an art practice—an ongoing act of invention and dedication. She loves to laugh, make things, and approach life with a sense of wonder. Most days, there’s a twinkle in her eye.
Self-taught artist
1997 University of Missouri, Communications
2026 - Cloud Tree Studios & Gallery, Summer Salon I
2025 - Red Dot, Women & Their Work
2025 - Group Exhibition "Interconnected", Couchpotato Gallery
2024 - People's Gallery, Austin City Hall
2024 - Red Dot, Women & Their Work
2024 - Solo Exhibition "Dissecting", Jen Tough Gallery
2023 - Fable: Art with Narrative, Jen Tough Gallery Inaugural Exhibition
2023 - Amarillo Museum of Art Biennial-600, juror Anna Walker
2023 - Masur Museum, 60th Annual Juried Competition, juror Jovanna Venegas, SFMOMA
2022 - Collar Works, 2022 Flat Files, curated by Jeremy Dennis
2022 - Artexpo Dallas, Jen Tough Gallery
2022 - Artist Alliance "Nocturnal" featured on Artsy, curated by Jen Tough
2021 - Amarillo Museum of Art Biennial-600: Justice, Equality, Race, Identity, juror Leslie Moody Castro
2021 - Brand 49 Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper, juror Marvella Muro
2021 - Museum of Contemporary Art Nashville TMP1, "Radical" Thoughts
2025 Netvvrk Professional Artist Network Member
2024 New Visionary magazine, Issue 11, Summer 2024
2022 Texas Connect magazine, Happens Here feature, Fall 2022
2022 Kolaj magazine, #36
2022 Texas Observer magazine cover, July/August
2022 Artsy Shark Artist Feature
2021 Wild Lands book by Jen Tough Gallery
2021 IG Live Interview with Brooke Hailey Hoffert, Curator MOCAN
2020 Artist / Mother Podcast Crit Group
mentored by Pam Marlene Taylor, fiber artist and Gallery & Artist Residency Director of Stay Home Gallery & Residency
Private Collections in Austin, TX; Columbia, MO; Durham, NC; Los Angeles, CA; Louisville, KY; New York, NY; Portland, OR; Santa Fe, NM; St. Louis, MO; Nashville, TN; Washington, DC