About the Artist
Bio
Laura Slapikoff is a visual artist, poet, and short fiction writer, living and working in Somerville, Massachusetts. Born and raised in the Boston area, she spent 12 years in Los Angeles where she published poetry and short fiction in the small press. It was also in L.A. that she began to work with collage as an antidote to writer's block.
Working with images influenced by L.A.'s Latino culture, her collages include themes from mythology, politics, and the relationship of humanity to the natural world, often expressed with whimsy and visual puns.
Artist Statement
Collage and assemblage are media through which an artist can create visual work without traditional artists' abilities. Instead of drawing or painting, I cut out intricate, often tiny pictures and arrange them, or let them arrange themselves, into stories, symbols, questions, mythologies.
Sometimes I'll start with an idea and stay focused on it through completion of a project. Other times, an idea will evolve when I happen upon an image that illuminates another aspect of it. Or, I'll choose pictures for no reason except that they catch my eye, and end up finding out what the piece is about by "reading" the final product.
I tend not to tell people what I was thinking when I made an image because I believe that when a piece is finished, it has to communicate with the viewer on its own. With collage, the participation of the viewer is essential to complete the image; the success of my work will always depend on its ability to stimulate the creative process in its viewer.
Curriculum Vitae
Exhibitions
- Experimental Art Gallery and Studio
SEE-Scapes
Juried Group Show
24 New Derby St., Salem, MA
August 7-30, 2009 - Center for Arts at The Armory
Art Start at the Armory
Juried Group Show
191 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA
April 3-24, 2009 - Experimental Art Gallery and Studio
Smaller is Better
Juried Group Show
24 New Derby St., Salem, MA
June 6-26, 2008 - True Grounds Cafe
Solo Show
Ball Square, Somerville
March, 2008 - Somerville Public Library
Solo Show
79 Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA
August 1, 2007-August 31, 2007 - Upstream People Gallery
9th Annual Collage, Digital, Mixed Media Juried International Art Exhibition
Juried Group Show (Online Only)
June 1, 2007-May 31, 2008 - Windows Art Project
Juried Group Show
257 Washington St., Somerville, MA
May 18, 2007-June 17, 2007 - Somerville Open Studios
Art Fair
Clarendon Hill Presbyterian Church
155 Powderhouse Blvd., Somerville, MA
May 4 and 5, 2007 - Cezanne's Carrot
Juried Group Show (Online Only)
Winter Solstice, 2006 - Somerville Museum Holiday Sale
Juried Group Show
One Westwood Road, Somerville, MA
December 2 and 3, 2006 - Art-O-Bot
Juried Group Project
Various Locations, Somerville and Reading, MA
Summer, 2006 - New Glue Revue
Group Show
Bestsellers Cafe
24 High Street, Medford, MA
June 20-July 28, 2006
Commissions and Private Collections
- Commissioned by Karen Buetens
"Le Jardin sous La Mer" (Decoupaged Table) - Collection of Louis Kampf
"Year of the Dog" (Collage)
"Cassandra's Prophecy" (Collage) - Collection of Flora Gonzalez and Saul Slapikoff
"Spice Rack" (Assemblage)
"2 x Mickey" (Collage)
"Man Beats Nature" (Assemblage)
"Birth Mother" (Assemblage) - Collection of Rachel Baldwin
"A Mermaid" (Assemblage)
Education
- Tufts University 1993-1996
Studies in Literature and Mythology - Santa Monica College 1990-1993 Associate in Arts, Liberal Arts
Professional Affiliations
- Somerville Open Studios
Somerville, MA
Experience
- 14 years experience performing award-winning web design, user interface design, graphic design for print
Awards and Honors
- 2002 Best Website Award for The Noise Magazine
- 2001 E-Healthcare Leadership Platinum Award for Best Overall Internet Site (Business Improvement/Vendor Site) for Patientkeeper