Laura was awarded the Stiwdio Maelor bursary for 2019.

Laura Bennett earned B.A. degrees in journalism and studio art from Humboldt State University in California. Her MFA in photography/digital media is from the University of Houston. She has been a college educator for twelve years and has taught all levels of analog photography, as well as photo history, history of women artists and photojournalism.

Much of Bennett’s work stems from her experience of being the mother of nine and addresses the complexities of the female condition. She uses an old Gundlach 8×10 camera and an early version Hasselblad. In addition to traditional silver gelatin process and alternative processes, Bennett also scans antique glass negatives, film, objects, old medical illustrations and ephemera for transformation in the computer and for creating digital negatives.

Umbilicus

Umbilicusis a conceptual response to her life as the mother of nine children. She sculpts spheres and build ‘sets’ in her studio, sometimes adding collected objects and oddities. These sets are playfully referred to as ‘mother-worlds.’ The spherical form is an element she has referenced in her work throughout her career.  It represents the womb, the original home of every living being. Whereas motherhood is a bit of a gamble in terms of predictable outcome, her work gives her a sense of control, or at least the illusion of it.

Whilst at Maelor, Laura will use the time to create and sculpt new spheres from various materials in order to create new mother-worlds. These spheres can be arranged in the landscape as well as the studio space. Her intention is to experiment with various mediums like pencil, charcoal and collage as a means of depicting on paper the sets she has created.