ARTIST STATEMENT
American Childhood is the term I use for this series of quilts which begins with Mid Century baby blankets and quilts collected on the internet or in antique stores. I’m looking at several things here and one is the huge contrast between the cute and sweet images we surround infants with and the violent images we are surrounded with as adults. American babies are tucked in with sweet, anthropomorphized images of animals, but my inference is that animals would feel angry and threatened about their endangerment and environmental degradation. There is a big difference between reality and idealized nature and some tourists have learned the hard way that those are not teddy bears out there.
My message depends on contrast, such as the play between cute little teddy bears with a real bear, nursery rhymes and nuclear bombs, or clowns and toy soldiers. I feel that this contrast allows us to see the dangers and contradictions in modern life in a new way. I ponder how the icons and images we surround children with has helped to define who we are, or how we are expected to move through adulthood. I do not have all the answers but am inviting viewers to take a fresh look at the imagery we surround children with and what part it plays in our adult identity.
ARTIST BIO
Laurel Izard is an award-winning artist who exhibits her artwork throughout the United States. Her work has been included in exhibits such as Form Not Function, Art Quilt Elements, Excellence in Fibers, Quilts Unlimited and OH + 5. She currently lives and makes art full time near the southern shore of Lake Michigan in Michigan City, Indiana with her artist husband Edwin Shelton and three cats. As soon as she could hold a needle, she started sewing but didn’t begin creating textile art until 2010. She received a BA from Northern Illinois University, with majors in art and anthropology, and an MFA in ceramics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Once out of collage Izard and her husband started a ceramic business called Izwin, and together they produced and wholesaled colorful whimsical tabletop wares to galleries, boutiques, and department stores throughout the country. After years of self-employment, she taught art in numerous after-school and summer programs and finally at Marquette Catholic High School. Currently she teaches textile art workshops focusing on embroidery and art quilts. Her philosophy as an artist and teacher is that an integral part of being human is to be creative and continues to teach others how to discover their inner artistic resources.
© Laurel Izard