Laura Lappi

aura Lappi Umbra VIII Wall sculpture, charred oak, walnut and pine, plywood. 2019. 54 x 72 x 3 inch. Umbra focuses on the deepest details found in dark shadows. The wall sculptures are abstracted segments of various architectural structures based on existing locations and places from my memory. Irregular pentagons, triangles, trapezoids and circles intersect in ways that give structural integrity to the sculptures while creating a hypnotic visual rhythm. The charred material itself has agency. The passage of time, loss and remembrance are encompassed within this blackened material that has been transformed through the act of burning.

Laura Lappi is interested in observing and examining how architecture and spatial environments influence our perceptions and affect reality; in particular, her focus is on the experience and emotional charge of different places and the fluid boundaries between reality and fiction. Her sculptural practice explores the relationship between physical spaces, man-made structures, and the human mind - the psychogeography of places. Lappi has studied at the AKI Academy of Art & Design in the Netherlands and in the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Her work has been exhibited widely in solo and group shows internationally, including at Riihimäki Art Museum, Galleria Uusi Kipinä, and Galleria Titanik in Finland; Galleri Vest and SÍM Gallery in Reykjavik, Iceland; Kunstpodium T, Twente Biennale, Re:Rotterdam International Art Fair in The Netherlands; Supermarket Art Fair in Stockholm, Sweden; Lorimoto Gallery, Trestle Gallery, AC Institute and Knockdown Center in New York, and The Yard exhibition space in Colorado Springs. Lappi has participated at numerous residencies, including Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, SÍM in Reykjavik and Vermont Studio Center in Johnson. She has been awarded grants from the Art in the Parks: Alliance for Flushing Meadows Corona Park, Alfred Kordelin Foundation, The Queens Council on the Arts, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Frame Contemporary Art Finland and Arts Promotion Centre Finland. Her recent fellowships include the Bronx Museum of the Arts AIM fellowship program and New York Foundation for the Arts IAP Mentoring Program.

www.lauralappi.com

Laura Lappi Untitled (Study of Charring Wood and Burning Structures II) Site-specific installation, charred wood, smoke. 2018. 39 x 51 x 71 inch. Untitled (Study of Charring Wood and Burning Structures II) a site-specific installation standing in a suburban Colorado landscape at The Yard exhibition space. A large, carbonized wood column is enveloped by smoke emitted from inside the sculpture. Like floating out of a dream, the smoky scene has an eerie feeling