Laurie LeBreton
Joyful Noise
2019
Handmade abaca paper, marigold petals, acrylic paint, dyed monofilament, aluminum
cans
40 sculptures 5” – 8” tall
The unattainable, the elusive, the indefinable: my art explores all these concepts. Using my primary medium, handmade paper, I make paper sculptures constructed on forms and on armatures. With these sculptures I examine ideas of impermanence, the role of chance, the interplay of joy and sorrow and the futility of control. Working indirectly with these ideas during the pandemic has been a great source of comfort. For me, paper is the ideal medium to explore these concepts.
Joyful Noise (detail)
Paper itself is complex. It is light, responds to movement and appears fragile. As a paper sculptor, I know that it is also pliable, absorbs color beautifully, and is very strong. Abaca, the fiber I use most often, shrinks as it dries, adding the element of chance to all my work. I also enjoy the process of paper making because of my love of water, for its beauty, sensuality and for its healing qualities.
Working with multiples is a strong component of my work. It is both a metaphor and a strategy. Multiples, especially those with variations, point to the simple yet complicated nature of just about everything. As an artistic strategy, they offer an opportunity for experimentation within a structure, for stillness with many variations. As a visual strategy, they calm a busy eye, with each object informing the others. I often suspend these multiples from the ceiling on fine line. Their movement in response to the movement in the air means that the display itself is impermanent, that it also has many variations.