WK 13- Artist Conversation

Exhibition Information

Artist: Laura Lopez
Exhibition: Selvática (wild)
Media: painting
Gallery: CSULB School of Art, Marilyn Werby Gallery
Website: n/a
Instagram: -In the process

Laura moved from Colombia to Long Beach 3 years ago. She wants to go back to Columbia to  get her masters in the School of Art in Painting. Her inspiration comes from the tropical and jungles environment in Colombia. She lived in the Amazon jungle for 2 to 3 weeks because she really enjoyed being surrounded by nature and loved seeing the vibrant colors from nature and the sun. Being in the Amazon she realized how different it was compared to the jungle in Columbia. She found being surrounded by nature a great way to disconnect from stress and enjoy living and appreciating life. Her painting can take from 2 to 3 week process depending if she doesn’t have a lot of pressure in other areas of her life.

Formal Analysis

Her artwork consists of lines and shapes that create the images for example, trees, plants, animals. She uses a variety of different colors from cool to warm colors. All of her paintings depict moments for example certain colors have energies, bright colors can make you more happy, so when she used these colors to express specific moods. She wanted to use the colors to convey to the audience that the jungle is alive and has its own pure spirit, unlike anything else.

Content analysis

As mentioned before, she is highly influenced by nature and everything that has to do with nature.  She spoke about Pantheism, which is  the view that God is in everything, for example, a tree, a rock, an animal, the sun, all things in nature is God. Everything is in God. Nature is pure, her experiences in nature taught her how disconnecting herself from technology and embracing nature has become her sacred temple.

Experience/Synthesis

I saw from afar a painting and was immediately drawn in by the colors and the intricate patterns in her paintings. As I walked to each painting it reminded me of the places I went to (Bali and Costa Rica), where I was surrounded by the jungle. There is nothing like being out in nature and taking in the peaceful sounds and fresh air. We don’t get to experience being fully immersed in nature because we live in cities and many national parks are distant from LA. We forget to appreciate nature and that we need to continue to take care of it. If we aren’t taking care of the environment many of these beautiful places like the amazon and jungles will disappear.