Amy Laskin
Amy Laskin – Haute Couture and Mother Nature Marry
My studio is in mountainous rural Jamaica, where I get most of my artistic inspiration, from the rich biodiversity. In my painting practice, I assemble and merge unrelated forms and elements to create visual relationships. All are things I find fascinating, both natural and manmade. I continuously observe and hunt for what captivates me. I save images and make models. My paintings employ the use of decorative language. I’m obsessed with flowers, plants, moss, lichen, vintage clothes, vines, lace, sea life etc. They are amalgamated to form non representational figures, usually without faces or emotions. They combine natural elements and unusual combinations. Many times they are poised and placed in an environment observed from the naturalness of my studio home. I slowly build up thin layers of paint and glazes on smooth surfaces. The entities are a natural framework for image making and a celebration of womankind in mutual symbiosis with nature. Ostensibly these combinations are painted in a cogent way to suggest something phantasmagorical. I think that humankind is an essential and fundamental part of the natural world and our place in it is integral and basic. I think it is important we feel this connection to our planet, especially in these perilous times of climate change when all life becomes increasingly threatened.
Website: www.amyclaskin.com
Instagram: @amylaskin_
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