ART PORTFOLIO Laura Arango 2020 - 2021
Micro ecosystems
I have always been a nature lover and this year I wanted to bring that curiosity and passion towards nature into my art. My work focuses on micro-ecosystems: miniaturized universes that are found in nature and that only exist under certain specific conditions. I like to think of micro-ecosystems as small cosmos within larger worlds, so I started researching their components and discovered that something as simple as a tree bark or a puddle can be its own ecosystem. I wanted to work with materials that were coherent with my theme, so I mainly sought to use things that I found outdoors or that were alive. I focused on the details of these materials, on the texture, colors and patterns. I was also intrigued about the structure within these little worlds so I started collecting living matter like lichens or moss, and then rebuilding these universes in my own way. I was guided by the idea of controlling or forcing nature to create my own universes and give order to the natural world. Then I started creating my own works to also control the conditions in which living material grew and thus be able to create something that only exists under unique conditions.
Height: 5.9 in Width: 4.7 in Depth: 4.7 in
Ideas: Give emphasis to the contrast between materials while limiting the growth of the seeds to a cube Materials: Wooden cube, mustard seeds, water, jute, UHU glue Processes: I grew the seeds onto the jute, covered the wooden cube with it and watered it until they germinated
Height: 3.9 in Width: 9.8 in Depth: 2.75 in
Materials: Carrots, water and cloth Processes: I cut the tip off the carrots and made them regrow at different paces to show the stages of growth. Then I created an installation trying different arrangements and organizations
Height: 4.7 in Width: 2.7 in Depth: 0.8 in
Ideas: I wanted to work with the transparency of the wax to highlight the details of the pattern and shapes
Materials: Honeycomb, canvas, wax paper, needle. Processes: I created a light box with the wax paper and then placed the honeycomb with a need so it stood up
Height: 0.8 in Width: 13.7 in Depth: 9.4 in
Ideas: Show repetition and juxtaposition through the categorization of living lichens against square tiles Materials: 54 pieces of lichen and moss Processes: I collected the lichens and then organized them by size on my grandmas sink
Height: 1.2 in Width: 0.7 in Depth: 0.7 in
Ideas: I forcibly structured nature through repetition of leaf squares that varied in color and texture Materials: 7 types of leaves and cloth for the background. Processes: I collected and dried leaves to cut them and then fold them into squares.
Materials: Glass, glass cutter, UHU glue, moss, scalpel Processes: I cut the moss with a scalpel, cut the glass to make the box and then organize the moss inside of it
Height: 1.2 inches Width: 3.9 inches Depth: 3.9 inches
Height: 1.9 in Width: 3.9 in Depth: 1.18 in
Materials: Onion sprouts, water, glass, UHU glue, glass cutter Processes: I grew the onion sprouts, let them dry, cut the glass and made the container to put them inside. For the pictures I tried to use different light sources to play with shadows
Height: 39.9 in Width: 19.6 in Depth: 15.7 in
Ideas: I wanted to focus on the use of space while showing the color, transparency and movement of the materials Materials: Tea bags, tea, needles, brown thread and pins. Processes: I cleaned, dried and dyed the teabags and then I weaved the brown thread into them to hang them up