Laura Sturtz

Art 84 at Cannon Coffee, January 29 – April 26, 2024

Opening Reception: Thursday, February 8, 6-8pm,
Cannon Coffee, 1901 W William Cannon Dr., Suite 165A, Austin

Art 84 at Cannon Coffee presents Visions in Metal featuring work by Laura Sturtz who creates a variety of geometric sculptures, landscapes, quilts, and other works using copper and other metals. Please take this opportunity to see this special collection of unique pieces in person! As usual with Art 84 exhibits, expect beauty and meaning with memorable art in a friendly space.

Bio

Laura Sturtz is a versatile artist who explores both geometric and organic forms in 2D and 3D primarily in metals and wood. Additionally, she spent over ten years creating ceramics. Having participated in numerous juried national and regional exhibitions, her work is in many national and international private collections. Laura returned to school as an ‘older’ student at Texas State University and received a Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS) concentrating in studio art. Subsequently, she enjoyed teaching studio art classes as an adjunct at Austin Community College for 14 years. Classes included drawing, life drawing, 2D & 3D design, and sculpture. She also taught classes and workshops at the Art School of Austin Museum of Art for six years.

Artistic Statement

In the course of making jewelry, I discovered that many people have a strong appreciation for the warmth of copper. During these times, I also discovered what a wonderful material copper is to work with. I guess I can say my jewelry has grown up to become forms of art that people choose to live with in their homes. 

The artworks for this exhibit are more than just expanded jewelry.  Being a ‘tree hugger’ type person/eco-artist, my consciousness is strongly tuned to environmental sustainability.  Unfortunately, the mining of metals has had terrible consequences for the people and land in regions where mining has occurred.  As an artist who likes to work with metals, this can present a bit of a dilemma.  Fortunately, there is a place in the solid waste stream, where an individual can use metals without guilt.  Intercepting industrial cut-offs and waste from waste segregation before reprocessing occurs.  This plays a small part in reducing energy consumption and pollution in the metals processing sequence.  Scrounging for used materials brings an additional challenge but also a ‘treasure hunting’ aspect to the artist’s sourcing of materials.

 Another environmental and health concern is the use of chemicals with metals.  While there are a great many chemicals that can be used for fabulous effects with metals, I strive to keep the toxicity level very low in my studio which ultimately affects the world outside my studio as well.  As consumers, we all need to be aware of the impact the products we use have on the environment.

These materials have limitations (that I embrace) and present challenges which affect my designs. I position fragments that are incomplete in themselves, but together become a unified creation. The assembled elements include parts that I have made, altered, and/or found. I ‘play’ in a variety of formats because life is too short to do the same thing over and over. This includes working with both geometric and organic forms. Frequently, I simultaneously work on a couple of different bodies of work. I’m a sculptor first and I create in whatever materials speak to me at the moment.

https://www.instagram.com/laura.sturtz/
https://www.facebook.com/TwinCreekStudio.LauraSturtz
https://laurasturtz.com/
artist@artist123.com