Laura Klopfenstein
PAINTING AND COLLAGE

Artist Statement
Some are evolving and progressive, some choose to stay cemented in an ugly past and celebrate ignorance. Yet we share custody of our physical, emotional and spiritual space, and have major problems to solve.
As we all know, mothers worry. I feel a maternal sense of protectiveness for people and the environment. I like to create imagery that is rooted in the natural world and summoned from my imagination. It is a celebration of beauty and a reminder of our responsibility as a species with the gift of forethought.
Works are informed by concepts of stewardship, activism, playfulness, and awe. Some art works are more personal and touch on the push-pull energy of social roles that are both depleting and inspiring: being a woman in the US and a mother. I like soft and hard, pretty and ugly, together. My artistic process is guided by layering, the physical qualities of textures, forms and colors, storytelling, and humor.
I like to use symbols to explore ideas: human teeth, fingernails, fishing lures, cacti and oceanic organisms. For example, I include teeth because as humans, we all have teeth no matter what we look like and they are a shared connection. Other works also use fishing lures. I think they look like little people, ghosts when together, non-thinking masses with a permanent expression of confusion, apathy. And I combine them with flora and fauna – to share space with the fishing lure “people”, all linked together.
Other ongoing series explore labor roles, the beauty/fashion industry, climate change, environment, disposable culture and socioeconomic imbalance.
My painted drawings and collage are playful with a bite, quietly explosive and rewarding to the patient viewer - maybe even poetic. In my practice, I use a variety of media on paper and canvas: acrylics, gouache, graphite, Austin tap water, magazines, encyclopedias, ink and secret tools.
Bio
I grew up in Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas, spending a lot of time in nature. I am a mother of two young adults - they inspire, teach and remind me to be in the moment. Somewhere along the line I created my own systems to have an art practice while parenting and working full time. I love to laugh and make things, and help people on their journey however I can. Most days, I have a twinkle in my eyes.
Education
Self-taught artist
1997 University of Missouri, Communications
Gallery Affiliation
Jen Tough Gallery, Santa Fe, NM
Related Experience
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
Exhibitions
2024 - Solo Exhibition "Dissecting", Jen Tough Gallery
2023 - Fable: Art with Narrative, Jen Tough Gallery Inaugural Exhibition
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
2022 - Method Gallery, "Food + Body + Suggestion"
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
2021 - Artist Alliance "Terrain" curated by Carol Dalton and Jen Tough
2020 - Artist Alliance "We the People" curated by Tamera Avery and Jen Tough
2020 - Artist Alliance "Rough Around the Edges" curated by Jen Tough
2020 - I Like Your Work Summer Juried Show "Congruence" curated by Bridgette Mayer
2020 - Stay Home Gallery, Week 12 "Soften" curated by Kaylan Buteyn and Pam Marlene Taylor
2017 - Cecile R. Hunt Gallery, "Lone Star", St. Louis, MO
2017 - Bouldin Creek Cafe Gallery, Austin, TX
2015 - East Austin Studio Tour, Austin, TX
2014 - East Austin Studio Tour, Austin, TX
2013 - East Austin Studio Tour, Austin, TX
2010 - Method Hair Gallery, Austin, TX
2009 - Bouldin Creek Cafe Gallery, Austin, TX
2008 - Bouldin Creek Cafe Gallery, Austin, TX
2006 - South First Street Art Pop Up, Austin, TX
2003 - Guadalupe Arts Center Group Show, Austin, TX
Collections
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
Grants & Awards
2011 Hunting Prize Finalist
curated by Rachel Blackburn Cozad, Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art; Carol Damian, Patricia and Philip Frost Art Museum; Julien Robson, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts