GALLERY BERSHAD
LAUREL SPARKS
Artist's Statement
The
content of my work was originally influenced by my interest in the body as
both a subject of discourse, and a complex material structure of internal
and external "worlds". Handmade paper and distressed foam are used
as metaphoric skin. I combine the formalist grid with ravaged material to
evoke a simultaneous sense of order and reckless abandon. Multi-colored scars
and blisters appear excavated from a monochromatic surface; while a dark abyss
is exposed through punctures. My work addresses the space where beauty and
violence converge -- where pain and elation are amalgamous. Along with the
body, my imagery is derived from a broad range of influences: from game-boards
and arial landscapes, to the polychromatic architecture of Friedensreich Hundertwasser.
Although my color and compositions honor formal design principals, my tactile
use of materials pushes the work beyond two-dimensional limits of painting.
In the spirit of Spacialism, the surfaces become thresholds into mysterious,
internal space. The pieces function as both paintings and vessels that kaleidoscopically
address existential complexities of the body and senses.
education
1995
School
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA.
1996
Tufts
University, Medford, MA
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree
1990 Idyllwild
Arts Academy, Idyllwild, CA
High School Diploma
Awards and Recognition
2001 Emerging
Artist Grant Recipient
Boston
Cultural Council
1999 Exhibition
Review
Fenway News, p.6, February 1999
1997 “Art
Seen”
Art New England, p.49, September 1997
1995 Department
Award of Excellence
Paper and Print Department Juried
Exhibition
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
1993 Department
Award of Excellence
Paper and Print Department Juried
Exhibition
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
Teaching
1999 - School
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
Present Collage and Mixed Media
1995 - Your
Center Exercise, Cambridge, MA
Present Pilates Instructor
1996 - Montserrat
College of Art, Beverly, MA
1997 Collage,
Mixed Media and Papermaking
1995 - School
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1996
“Images in Context”, an undergraduate and graduate
level
1997
course, fusing postmodern theory with studio
practice
1998
Assistant Teacher
Related experience
2000 Review Board Committee
School
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
2000 Gallery Attendant
MIT
List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, MA
1999-Assistant Muralist and Decorative Painter
Present Patricia Trapp Studio,
Allston, MA
1998 -“Think Again” Activist Artist Collaborative
Present Volunteer Distributor
1996 Faculty
Search Committee
Montserrat College of Art, Beverly,
MA
1995 Faculty
Review Committee
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
1995 Papermaking
Department Assistant
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
Selected Exhibitions
2001 High
Gene
Museum of Contemporary Art, Tucson, AZ
2001 Solo
Exhibition
Boston
City Hall, Boston, MA
2001 Gallery
Bershad, Somerville, MA
2001 New
Art 2001
MPG Gallery, Newbury Street, Boston, MA
2000 Modular
Gallery Bershad, Somerville, MA
2000 Juried
Exhibition
Forest Hills Chapel, Jamaica Plain, MA
2000 New
Art Y2K
Kingston Gallery, Boston, MA
2000 National
Competition
Bowery Gallery, New York, NY
1999 Survey
of Contemporary Works
Somerville Museum, Somerville, MA
1999 Solo
Exhibition
Sal Sannizarro, Newbury Street, Boston, MA
1999 Solo
Exhibition
Designs For Living, Boston, MA
1998 - Office
Environments Contemporary Art Exhibition
1999 Curated
by Creiger-Dane Gallery, Boston,
MA
1998 Annual
Benefit
School of the Museum of Fine Arts
Boston, MA
1998 Solo
Exhibition
Cambridge Health Associates, Cambridge, MA
1997 “Body
Rock-it”
Cyclorama, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA
1997 Addis
Gallery, Somerville, MA
1995 “Altered
Beauty”
Weems Center
School
of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA
1995 “Utterances”
Weems Center
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
1995 Paper
and Print Department Juried Exhibition
Weems Center
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
1994 Boit
Juried Competition
Grossman Gallery
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
1992 Paper
and Print Department Juried Exhibition
Weems
Center
School of the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston, MA
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