Laura Wickstead
At The Ode To we are always curious to learn more about creativity and artistry, so we asked Laura Wickstead to tell us a little bit about her life, her art and her sources of inspiration.
Can you tell us about your background and how you came to be an artist?
– I'm a self-taught artist but I've been painting since I was a child. I'm from the North West of England and I lived in Liverpool for 6 years where I used to paint landscapes of the Liverpool skyline whilst I worked full time in an office job. In 2017, I relocated to London and in doing so, I decided to change my style from landscapes to abstract artworks. I still worked full-time whilst I developed this style and then over time my work started gaining traction and I was able to go full-time as a professional artist early this year.
How would you describe your art and aesthetics in three words?
– Calm, soft, curvaceous.
The series of artworks that you have created for The Ode To is called Half Form Collection—can you tell us more about that?
– I choose that name because it's a collection that portrays organic shapes in half form; these formations are not symmetrical shapes, but they are balanced out by something unexpected instead. Creating these pieces, I have used a mix of acrylic and pastel pencil on paper.
What inspired you to create this series of artworks?
– I've been interested in portraying half shapes in previous collections too, but this time I wanted to experiment a little bit. By bringing the shape into the center of the art piece, I aimed to mirror organic formations in an interesting way whilst still making the artwork balanced. For the main shapes my inspiration came from shapes depicted in nature, such as leaves and petals, and then I experimented with more fluid, abstract shapes to complement the half forms in each piece. The result are playful pieces that allow the imagination to play around with the shapes depicted and unpick all the different elements that create the piece.
Could you name an artist that you wish for others to discover?
– I love the work of Carla Amaral Noronha, she creates these amazing large-scale canvases that are often observations of everyday objects, such as chairs and tables, but they have a dreamlike quality. Her use of colour is also interesting; often her work is very neutral but the layers of light vs dark and the tones she uses are so clever and unusual. As a fellow painter, I really admire her technique and the number of layers and interest she can create in an art piece.
What we love about Laura Wickstead:
Playful, intriguing and a pure sight for sore eyes—at The Ode To we simply can’t resist the calm yet thought-evoking artworks that Laura Wickstead creates.
