Laura Hickman
Laura is an artist who uses a variety of media and skills. For many years Laura has used a technique of camera-less photography to create black and white photograms, producing images with varying tones conveying an ethereal mood. Photograms date back to William Henry Fox Talbot in the 1840's. Artists including Pablo Picasso and Man Ray have also used the technique. The original darkroom process is used to create the images that are not digitally altered.
Laura Hickman - Effusion and Illumination
Photograms - inspired by plants in Shakespeare's poetry
Laura Hickman - Effusion and Illumination
Hickman animates her subject matter of death-bleached flora and fauna that has been preserved by nature, bringing them to life again momentarily in her work. Their delicacy is celebrated in shadows of themselves. Going beyond making a "negative record of a shadow", she composes each piece to create moments of mortality. She is unafraid to experiment and push boundaries to achieve stunning results. Transformation and states of being from cellular to the ethereal are themes in her work; where she captures moments in time, painting them with light to create beauty in end-of-life portraits.
Inspired by both gold leaf embellished wooden pieces seen in Thailand and Japanese Zen gardens, her sculpture is made from reclaimed wood. Working with the wood, the shape is carved suggesting the flow of water through fractures, as occurs in nature. Gold leaf is used to highlight and accentuate. The pieces with a golden circular hole provide a way of seeing through to the other side; an entry and an illuminated glimpse of what is beyond. 'The wood speaks as it is worked, evolving from its naturally aged flaws, transformed into sculpture.'
Illumination - Laura Hickman
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