From The Collection: Laura Moriarty

Laura Moriarty, Trench, encaustic on red maple slab, 16.5” x 31”, 2001. Permanent collection of R&F Handmade Paints.

Artist Laura Moriarty makes process-driven 2D and 3D works with encaustic whose forms, colors, textures, and patterns result from processes similar to those that shape and reshape the earth: heating and cooling, erosion, subduction, friction, enfolding, weathering, slippage.

Artist Laura Moriarty in her studio.

The recipient of an Adolph & Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant, the MARK 09 Award from the New York Foundation for the Arts, and a Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Laura has had many solo exhibitions at venues ranging from the Hunterdon Museum of Art to Kenise Barnes Fine Art. She has participated in a number of artist residencies, including at international locations such as Iceland, Belgium, and Germany. In 2012, she published Table of Contents, which she describes as “an artist's book in the fanciful guise of a geology textbook.”

Laura’s work is in the permanent collections of Coutts Bank in London; The Art Bank, a program of the US Department of State; and the Progressive Art Collection, among others. R&F is proud to have two pieces of Laura’s work in our permanent collection.

Laura Moriarty, Hive, encaustic, 20” x 17” x 4”, 2020

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? How did you get your start as an artist?

It is difficult to pinpoint a start because I always had this idea of myself as an artist - I mean like, way before I had a body of work to speak of. When I was in my 20's I took painting classes once a week in the studio of an artist who lived outside of Woodstock named Franklin Alexander. He took an interest in me and gave me some badly needed clues, one of which was to find myself a community of other artists, and that is how I wound up working at Women's Studio Workshop for more than ten years.

The studios at WSW were such a great place to experiment, like a big think tank. I would say that's where eventually I started making somewhat coherent work, showing, and finding opportunities.

Laura Moriarty, Implement 3, encaustic, 7” x 4.5” x 3”, 2020.

What types of media do you like to work in?

The swirly types: papermaking, printmaking, encaustic, Suminagashi.

What are you currently working on in the studio and how has it evolved over the years?

I go back and forth in the studio, working on encaustic sculptures and monotypes. There is an ebb and flow to the studio process these days, sometimes building up, sometimes spreading out. Very fluid. There is always a further place where things can be pushed and pulled.

Laura Moriarty, Concentrations, encaustic, 11.5” x 9.25” x 3.75”, 2020.

You will be teaching A Process of Natural Wonder this summer at R&F, as well as Encaustic & Paper in September. What will these two workshops focus on and what can students expect to leave with?

I developed A Process of Natural Wonder as a workshop for fellow naturalists and experimenters. In this workshop, we take an archaeological approach to working with encaustic, with lots of embedding, digging and scraping. It's a very hands-on workshop where students can expect to come away with a collection of curious artifacts. Students who are already exploring sculptural encaustic find their own direction in this class because it gives them techniques they were craving, and I encourage that. We usually get to see some surprises and it's always a very fun class.

Encaustic & Paper is a workshop that emphasizes the beautiful, often translucent interplay of paper and wax. This is a great workshop for practicing artists who have an idea for a new series involving encaustic and paper, but would benefit from some feedback, material suggestions and/or technical guidance. It is also perfect for artists who need some time to experiment with different papers and techniques, and want to see demonstrations. This is a very hands-on workshop and Awagami Factory generously provides us with some amazing papers to try.

Laura Moriarty, Ex Uno Plures, encaustic on paper, 35.5” x 25.5”, 2020.

Laura Moriarty, Green Acres, encaustic on red maple slab, 30” x 20”, 2000. Permanent collection of R&F Handmade Paints.

Please share a bit about your two pieces in R&F's Permanent Collection.

Ah, My lumber phase! I made them both in my old rented barn studio. I was looking at aerial photographs as references for these, puzzling over how to layer the colors. I loved painting on slabs. They were rough and the wax would stiffen along the peaks - a scraper's delight!

What keeps you motivated in the studio? What is your typical studio day like? What's next for you?

These aren't fun times, and I fall in and out of slumps, but I am motivated to try to bring more wonder and beauty into the world - it feels like there is an opening for it. A typical week in the studio means a mix of me working on new pieces, sometimes there's a virtual meeting with a gallerist or collector, and sometimes I am documenting work or creating video content. And I have preparations as I am beginning to get back to teaching.

Next for me is an installation of some very long encaustic scrolls and some sumi ink drawings at Albany International Airport. And I am looking forward to an artist's residency at Cill Rialaig in Ireland next year.

To see more of Laura’s work, visit lauramoriarty.com. To register for workshops at R&F, visit rfpaints.com/workshops.