Laurie LeBreton

Learning to Fly, Number One (2019)
bamboo, handmade abaca paper, waxed linen thread, plastic beads
20 x 34 x 34 in.

The unattainable, the elusive, the indefinable: my art explores all these concepts. Using my primary medium, handmade paper, and a wide assortment of other media, I make 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.

For me, paper is the ideal medium to explore these concepts. 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 papermaking because of my love of water, for its beauty, sensuality and for its healing qualities. (IL)

© Laurie LeBreton