“Fire & Ice” by Kimberly Laudert
ARTIST STATEMENT:
I thrive because I believe darkness, difficulty, and even death can give rise to creativity, grace, and joy. I attend to what is before me to express gratitude by using universal prompts. I am an alchemist whose artistry transmutes life into art. I encourage the viewer to interact with my art.
As a visual artist, I create in acrylics, fiber, pastels, charcoal, and food. I am drawn to capturing nature, animals, abstract landscapes, and still life. I have shown and sold pieces of artwork at the Science Museum, Sower Museum, and Artability shows. In earlier years, I made and sold jewelry, primitive dolls, and pouches. In addition, I have a lifelong experience with writing poetry.
Nature influences me as well as the beauty that can arise in the challenges of life. I am deeply moved, impressed, and influenced by the art of Van Gogh, which is often reflected in my work. In my day dreams, and at the places where I paint, felt, chop, and engage, my art is born. My work has been crafted in the middle of the night and other dark spaces such as in throes of a depressed state. I show my progress to a loyal and ever-present group of friends, cohorts, and community who support and travel with me wherever I go.
I make life real through engaging the senses of the body. I find joy in the voices joining in to sing at Avivo, in the vibrancy of my acrylic painting Chick en Drag, in the waft of the garlic used as a still life model, the taste of freshly chunked and roasted red, yellow, and chioga beets, and in poetry brought to life when spoken. All of this inspires my artistic practice.
I believe that the difficulty in life often also provides me with inspiration and beauty even when I am “in deep.” Mental health and physical issues inform some of the best poetry and art I have created. It drove me to declare my “Year of Art” in August 2017. This led me to Artability and Avivo. Art continues to be the constant ribbon moving throughout my life. Everything and every experience has the potential to sponsor and create appreciation, and thus, underscoring and encouraging life.
ARTIST BIO:
Kimberly A. Laudert practices in drawing, painting, and fiber art. She has exhibited with Artability, Sower Gallery, and Avivo ArtWorks. She has participated Art-A-Whirl, St. Paul Art Crawl, and with Wild Women’s Artisan Guild. She is a member of the Avivo ArtWorks Collective, has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and is a poet and feminist activist. Currently, Kimberly is working on commissions and expanding her portfolio.
PROVIDED BY:
Avivo Artworks
Since 2004, Avivo ArtWorks, formerly Spectrum ArtWorks, has been working to support professional artists living with mental illness. Located at the Lighthouse, a Community Support Program in Minneapolis, the program meets its mission through a community-focused and recovery-based approach. Its multi-faceted art studio and programming assists artists at reaching and maintaining their artist-related goals such as making new art, connecting with other artists, and accessing exhibition and grant opportunities.
In addition to this, each year the program organizes a new exhibition that aims to meet its mission to challenge stigma and raise mental health awareness. In 2015, the program partnered with the Minneapolis Institute of Art to bring “In Conversation,” a residency and exhibition that featured 17 artists from the program. Each participant created a new piece of art that was in conversation with an object or artwork in the museum’s collection. In 2017, Avivo ArtWorks facilitated “The Big Picture,” a group exhibition that presented artwork that explored wellness in recovery through art. “To Really See,” opening August 2017 at the Hennepin County Library – Central Minneapolis, is Avivo ArtWorks first every traveling group exhibition. The show explores the medication-taking experience and will feature artwork from artists who use Avivo ArtWorks services and artists from across the state of Minnesota.