On view: March 16th-24th, 2023
Reception: Friday, March 24th, 4-5pm
Laura Bullock (she/they) is pursuing a BA in Studio Art with a Gender and Sexuality Studies minor at Davidson College, NC. In their large-scale oil paintings, pastel drawings, and prints Bullock depicts personal hardship in a playful tone through interactions between self-portraits, idiosyncratic animals, and lively grounds. They received the Douglas Houchens Studio Art award (2022) and an Abernathy Endowment Grant sponsoring artistic research in Southern California (2022).
Artist Statement:
In my search for a romantic relationship, I have often encountered poor communicators, non-committal flight risks, and full-on abusive narcissists. I have settled for ridiculously poor treatment in an attempt to fulfill my needs, which typically results in even more severe emotional damage. In my mixed media paintings and pastel drawings, I seek to bring visibility to the consequences of assault, emotional abuse, and repeated abandonment while playfully laughing at the irony of continuously looking for partnership in those who cannot provide it for me.
I create a spiritual landscape with paint where interactions between animals and nude portraits tell these stories and depict the comedic discrepancy between what I want and what I get. By employing aggressive marks, I reflect the chaos and horror of my trauma. Laying these marks over lively paint pours and bright colors contrasts the sadness in my body and the brightness I fight it with.
Influenced by various cultures and my own serendipitous encounters, animals appear as spiritual messengers, emphasizing specific meanings. Compositions inspired by tarot cards, myths, and animal behaviors communicate specific sites of frustration or struggle like repeated rejection, sexual exploitation, and utter helplessness. The figures, who represent my choices and emotions, often respond to chaotic contexts with a numbing indifference or blissful unawareness. Mocking myself while also desperately trying to convince the audience of the severity of my pain brings a sense of self-awareness or perhaps defensiveness to this vulnerable exposure of my inner world.
Hometown?
Salisbury, NC
Major/Minor?
Studio Art Major, GSS minor
What is your primary medium?
Large scale mixed media painting
What does the title of your show mean?
The show is all about pursuing a relationship or a general feeling of connection and intimacy and never being able to find it. I chose GOOSECHASE because my work also includes a lot of birds so it plays with the symbols in the work and also the concept of chasing something that’s impossible to find.
How did you start with your project? What are your inspirations?
I started out painting small scale animals, vaginas, and abstract peices on my bedroom floor and on Belk lawn. In basic painting I began to focus more on sexual violence and spirituality. After looking at German Expressionism and some awesome artists that are currently working like Hernan Bas and Cecily Brown, I developed a style that uses the application of paint to communicate about the pain and ugliness of the topics im depicting.
What do you feel is the most significant piece in the exhibition and why? What is your favorite piece and why?
I would answer Inner-Child for both of these questions right now. It was the first piece that used my new process which is starting with an acrylic pour then working with oil pastels on top of it. I was really excited about it when I first started but it has taken four months to finish because the content is so personal and important to me. It depicts my visitations with my past selves who felt hurt and unworthy. I have worked so hard to overcome trauma and animals have been a really significant part of carrying me through the times I felt lost, so for me it’s like a big summary of how I have coped with and overcame all the difficulties depicted in the rest of the pieces.
How will art and the process of art making continue to play a role in your life after graduation?
I am definitely going to miss my studio at Davidson but I know I will find ways to keep painting and drawing. Art has become such an amazing way to process my experiences and build a relationship with nature. It has changed the way I perceive the world around me and that is never going away. I also want to work in the music industry so my goal is to one day paint an album cover or even work on an artists team as their creative director.
Virtual Tour: