Home
About
CV
Portfolio
Shop
Sketchbook
Workshops
 
Laura Grain
   

 

The uncanny, the subtle sensation that things are not as they should be, is a recurring theme within my work. I frequently utilise personal and domestic items for their familiarity, heightening the tension between the real and the unreal; concrete and illusion. Chairs and other frequently handled objects often appear in my work; their relationship to the body and the space we inhabit allows them to take on an almost physical presence even when the owner is no longer present, giving them the power to symbolise the missing person. Anatomical features and other things that generally reside inside out of view have this same symbolic nature and are also imbued with a sense of wonder as something that we are reliant upon for our existence yet so few people ever get to see.

I naturally draw on a range of appropriate materials and techniques to explore concepts within my work; for example embroidery draws the viewer in for closer scrutiny - utilised in 'Foreign Bodies' embroidered wall pieces and 'Buried in Woolen' relied on the tactility of wool and leather to encourage participation.

Rooted in a love of collections and their ability to reveal stories not only of the world around us but also about their collector many of my projects begin within a museum or specific collection, research and then experimentation through making.