Laura Epler
Artist Bio
Laura Epler is an internationally established contemporary artist. She studied studio art at the Parsons School of Design, Paris campus. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in Cultural and Intellectual History and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.
Ms. Epler has been an active studio artist for over forty years. Her work has been and is currently on exhibit in Paris, Barcelona, Berlin, Cuzco, Toronto, Chicago, San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, Santa Fe, Washington D.C. , Art Basel Miami, Boca Raton, and Brooklyn, New York. Ms. Epler recently showed her work at the Bellini Museum in Florence Italy. In 2023 her works will be featured at the Carrousel du Louvre exhibit in Paris.
Epler's work ranges from large mixed media pieces to paintings, collage, small constructions and Word Works that feature her original writings with associated paintings. Her work has been reproduced in several media forms for display to a larger population of art admirers by Galleria II Collezionista , her representatives in Rome.
Laura’s inspiration springs from art history, literature, popular culture, human rights, and spiritual studies. Her inspirational and thought provoking work has been shown in numerous venues and in private collections around the world. Her collectors include Ms. Helen Dickerson, long term patron of the National Museum of American Art and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden and Mr. Elston Gunn, Malibu, Ca. Another prominent collector of Ms. Epler’s work is Mr. William I Koch of Palm Beach and Aspen Colorado.
Laura Epler has been named one of America's best Mixed Media Artists byAdam Kennedy, author, playwright and producer of the American Greatness series featured on PBS.
Artist Statement
Painting has been my key to understanding myself, and my bridge to the universe outside me. My work has, over the years, evolved as my primary medium of communication with others and myself.
Painting, and its inherent creativity, give me meaning and purpose. It serves as a measure of where I have been. It nourishes my soul and is created to bring joy to others. It is my way of expressing love and gratitude for my life and to the glory of the universal creator.
Artistically I feel like I’m following the creative trail of Matisse, Picasso, de Kooning, Twombly, Harrington, Basquiat, Warhol, T.C. Cannon and others, many others.
I work in my studio with curtains drawn and doors closed. My companions are paints, brushes, pencils, markers, chalk, rags, clippings, photos, paper, canvas and my dogs.
Music is always playing to set a mood, illuminate thought and inspire a particular moment. The spirits that drift through are my inspirations, Beethoven, Mozart, Dylan, Van Morrison, Prince and Eminem to name a few.
I start each painting with a “preliminary” get acquainted period. I begin to paint attempting to derive the emotional essence of my chosen subject, committing to and trusting the creative process is required. The next step is for me to get out of my own way, which if I’m successful doing that, a plane of creativity reveals itself and the work uses me for shape, color, texture and definition. By now the “original plan” is out the window.
The colors compete among themselves for visibility on the canvas, shadows recede or grow and the work is now generating itself.
I have no real control over the duration of this process. I know it is complete when a sense of satisfaction arrives. It is only after this intense dance that I see what I have been about. Now I am free to embrace the locus, to explore the meaning of my inside and outside worlds that defines the work. Oddly enough, holograms often have a way of appearing in many of my works.