The paintings of Laura Duerwald are constructed out of paper, pigment, linen, and wax, using a process of addition and subtraction. They employ an acute sensitivity to the character of each element, and the poetic possibilities of their various combinations. Torn and folded paper rubbed with powdered graphite, salvaged cloth stained and dyed by organic substances, a deep embrace of process and happenstance, combine to create a tactile sense of place and evoke the natural flux of time, atmosphere and topography. The cadences of pattern and repetition are potent sources of meaning in Duerwald's work. Their rhythms encourage meditative connections of mind and body, like an awareness of one's breath, and enable constantly shifting internal and external conditions to be embedded in her process and embodied in her paintings.
Laura Duerwald received a BFA in Illustration from Syracuse University before moving to New York City, where she worked as an illustrator and graphic designer. Turning her focus to painting, she studied at the Art Students League, undertook independent studies in Italy, and earned an MFA in painting from Marywood University. Duerwald has been awarded fellowships and artist residencies at the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts, the Vermont Studio Center, and the NES Foundation in Skagastrond, Iceland. Her work has been exhibited in solo and curated exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, as well as in national and international group shows, and is held in numerous private collections throughout the United States. She works and resides in the foothills of the Endless Mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania.
b. 1961, Oceanside, NY