Laura Klopfenstein
PAINTING AND COLLAGE


The “American Dream” is a bizarre concept. Some are evolving and progressive, some are stuck in a dark 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 guardianship for people of all ages and walks of life, 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.
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.