Lana Larouche - Artist Statement 2013
While the mediums I encompass have been diverse, being a lover of drawing as well as linoleum carving, acrylic painting has always expressed my ideas best. My work is representational and often contains a narrative either between it and the viewer or between the subject matter it contains.
With my portrait works they are done in stages, by first creating the background context and then I will try and figure which figure and corresponding facial expression will suit it best to my desired intention. Modern technology informs my work in more than one way. It both aids technically in the creation of my work and conceptually by motivating the works creation to begin with. I use PhotoBooth on my MacBook computer to photograph my self portraits and my cellphone, brightness at its highest to capture the best contrast in a dark space to use as reference.
I am very interested in modern phenomenons and fading interests. Our increasing use and obsession over new technologies paired with the fading desire of the simple life—more specifically, of nature. All of my work includes reference to either nature in the forms of plants, flowers, and flora or of technology through the use of the cellphone. I emphasize the cellphone because it too is my own weakness. I am baffled by our dependence on it and comfort that such a mere piece of technology can bring. Social media, virtual relationships, games, shopping and just about anything is within reach via your cell phone while things just as nearby, the frost ridden trees, the transitioning pedals, thus are faded away in our peripheral vision. It is a sad day indeed when nothing is seen as a real experience or a real thing if not captured, hash-tagged and shared within the world wide web.
One artists work in particular I like is Tomasz Alen Kopera's fantastical oil paintings. Ascension (2010) I find reflects this reconnection with nature taking place in a surreal and organic format. The woman in angelic like in that she floats in a sea of folding fabric which also to me resembles the ripples found within flower pedals. Kopera's paintings absorb his subjects into a blend of the beautiful textures and qualities the natural world provides.
I wish my work to provoke thought about our own reliance on such technologies, do they truly improve your life? Or take more away from it? I want the viewer to not just see the world and blindly walk through it, but to truly experience and reconnect with their existence on earth. A friend once told me that when he feels sick he does not rely on medicine, television, or a hot cup of soup to feel better first, but rather, takes off his shoes and socks and stands outside. Why? Because whether it is the rubber soles on our feet or the vehicle gliding us through spaces, there is always that division between us and the environment. By literally connecting back to the earth, something as simple as standing in the grass and physically touching the earth can improve your well-being, which I believe in full-heartedly.
With my portrait works they are done in stages, by first creating the background context and then I will try and figure which figure and corresponding facial expression will suit it best to my desired intention. Modern technology informs my work in more than one way. It both aids technically in the creation of my work and conceptually by motivating the works creation to begin with. I use PhotoBooth on my MacBook computer to photograph my self portraits and my cellphone, brightness at its highest to capture the best contrast in a dark space to use as reference.
I am very interested in modern phenomenons and fading interests. Our increasing use and obsession over new technologies paired with the fading desire of the simple life—more specifically, of nature. All of my work includes reference to either nature in the forms of plants, flowers, and flora or of technology through the use of the cellphone. I emphasize the cellphone because it too is my own weakness. I am baffled by our dependence on it and comfort that such a mere piece of technology can bring. Social media, virtual relationships, games, shopping and just about anything is within reach via your cell phone while things just as nearby, the frost ridden trees, the transitioning pedals, thus are faded away in our peripheral vision. It is a sad day indeed when nothing is seen as a real experience or a real thing if not captured, hash-tagged and shared within the world wide web.
One artists work in particular I like is Tomasz Alen Kopera's fantastical oil paintings. Ascension (2010) I find reflects this reconnection with nature taking place in a surreal and organic format. The woman in angelic like in that she floats in a sea of folding fabric which also to me resembles the ripples found within flower pedals. Kopera's paintings absorb his subjects into a blend of the beautiful textures and qualities the natural world provides.
I wish my work to provoke thought about our own reliance on such technologies, do they truly improve your life? Or take more away from it? I want the viewer to not just see the world and blindly walk through it, but to truly experience and reconnect with their existence on earth. A friend once told me that when he feels sick he does not rely on medicine, television, or a hot cup of soup to feel better first, but rather, takes off his shoes and socks and stands outside. Why? Because whether it is the rubber soles on our feet or the vehicle gliding us through spaces, there is always that division between us and the environment. By literally connecting back to the earth, something as simple as standing in the grass and physically touching the earth can improve your well-being, which I believe in full-heartedly.