Laura Peery

well we changed the exhibits at NIH yesterday and besides one no-show and another artist who decided to invite guests to see his show the day we were deinstalling, things went pretty smoothly. I am thrilled to be exhibiting Laura Peery's work - fresh from her success at artomatic.
Her work is utterly charming, beautifully crafted, and full of such life and personality.

Below her lovely artist statement.

My grandmother had a dress shop in New Orleans. My earliest memories of “College Frocks” are of the times I spent in the attic where alterations were made. The sewing machines, boxes of thread, fabric scraps, buttons and scissors were objects I found mysterious and tempting. Later I studied dressmaking, sewing many of my own clothes, but none lived up to my grand and possibly unrealistic expectations.

When I discovered clay, it was probably no accident that I soon noticed the ways it could be made to resemble fabric. My clay of choice is porcelain, which has a fine texture and a pure white color. I roll out thin sheets of it and imprint these with lace or other textured materials. I also draw on the clay using thin wooden tools and use a dressmaker’s tracing wheel to produce marks similar to stitches. Molds of actual buttons reproduce my own button replicas. I drape, ruffle and pleat the clay as if it were linen.

My studio contains an old green chest filled with most of the sewing accessories from my grandmother’s store. Often I find just the right thing from my hoard to put the finishing touch on a piece, perhaps the perfectly faded color of button, but I am very stingy with my collection, keeping the majority for visual inspiration. The past is with me every day.
Laura's web site here