Alayna Wagers

Laura Owens is a 44 year old painter, working in Los Angeles. She has earned her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. Her work features large pieces, and is created many times made for specific venues. The large pieces she makes feature an abundance of open space, and often times work in conjunction with paired pieces, where the spaces between them serve as intentional special arrangement. Part of a “post-conceptual-art generation”, her work draws viewers in to the depth created as well as the feelings of “pleasure and fantasy” evoked.
The work she has is very interesting, and although each piece stands on its own as a unique work, the style she creates can be seen as fluid throughout her pieces. Many of her paintings have earth toned colors, steering clear of bright pastels unless naturally found, and sticking to colors such as browns, orange, yellow as well as a combination of ‘midnight’ colors, such as blues, purples and grays. The images she creates conjure a whimsical quality, from the soft textured forms, and the free flowing outlines of many of her subjects. The way she creates her forms really adds to the feeling and emotion they display. The example piece I have chosen to show demonstrates these qualities through her expression of whimsical, whispy lines, and soft textured forms which look similar to watercolor. This technique, and soft color palette is a good demonstration of her style as well as her use f open space on the canvas. Instead of focusing on the realistic features in her form, she omits a background, and displays her form with color and texture reminiscent of her soft, organic, and ‘fantasy’ style.