ARTIST STATEMENT
My work investigates symbolic forms and shapes. Primal experiences and nature for example, so basic to our understanding of existence, are symbolized in this private world. I love exploring the associations of figurative images and objects of animal and plant icons. I utilize printmaking and collage as an extension of drawing and painting, I have found that mixed media and collage are the most authentic and subjective tool to express my voice. Let the presence of nature enrich your life and embrace it.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Kim Laurel is a Chicago based mixed media artist, illustrator and graphic designer and has exhibited in the United States, Canada and England since 1977. She studied at Oberlin College, the Cleveland Institute of Art, Cleveland State University and Illinois State University. Her works of art are part of various public and corporate collections. Selected exhibitions and publications: 2020 • “Día de los Muertos: A Celebration of Life” The Art Center Highland Park, “All in the Same Boat” Stola Contemporary Gallery, “Love and Collaboration” The Art Center Highland Park, 2019 • “KimLaurel – Allegories of Nature” Union League Club of Chicago, “Drift”, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, 2018 • “Chicago InsideOUT”, Bridgeport Art Center, 2015 • “Convergence: The Poetic Dialogue Project”; at the Ukrainian Institute of Modern Art and “City Creatures”; at the Peggy Notebaert Nature. Curatorial Projects Include:
Her Way With Print: Woman Made Gallery: Kim Laurel, Guest Curator.
Black/White/Gray, Element Flux, Ethereal Fauna: The Artist’s Muse, Tool Box Flower Box, Integrant Element Lab, Redux Loop, Wild Things and Beyond: KimLaurel and Fletcher Hayes Collaborations. Laurel is a long standing member of Woman Made Gallery, the Mid America Print Council, the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, the Chicago Artistʼs Coalition, the Elmhurst Artists’ Guild and the Chicago Alliance of Visual Artists. Kim’s art is exhibited in many Chicago galleries and institutions and is represented by the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative, Chicago, Il. She has taught both in a corporate job instructional setting and in private and public classes at the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative.
© Kim Laurel