Laura Tyler in the studio photographed by Rebekah West
About
It’s my goal as an artist to take complex subjects – mainly plants, plant systems, and landscapes – and make clarifying representations of them that balance abandon with control. If I can make a painting, object or photograph that feels simple while retaining some of its subject’s essential character and mystery, then by my measure I have succeeded with that piece. Part of my process is expressive and part of it is restrained. By balancing personal gesture against a limited palette and a formal approach to composition, I make organic work with a modern sensibility that is relaxed, clear and whole.
Origin
I am a child lying across the backseat of my parents’ Oldsmobile Cutlass. We’re driving home from a grandparent’s house on the backroads of Maine. My eyes are closed against a strobing light. It’s the sun passing through the forest speeding by in broken rhythm. I open my eyes and look out. A path opens in the wood. A lifelong fascination with plants in the landscape begins.
Bio
Laura Tyler is an American artist who works in painting, sculpture and photography. She is also the producer and director of the documentary film, Sister Bee. Her works, inspired by the plant/animal relationships that give landscape its texture, have shown at private, non-profit and university galleries across the United States, and she travels nationally to speak about her art at conferences, colleges and film screenings. Raised in Maine, Laura earned a BFA from the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston before settling in Boulder, Colorado where she lives and works today.