Laurie Baker, New York

Education

MFA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
    Hiroko Pijanowski, David Reif

BFA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
    Wendel Heers, Sherri Smith

Tyler School of Art, 1yr graduate study, Philadelphia, PA
    Stanley Lechtzin

Penland School of Crafts, Penland, NC
    Elliot Pujol, Gary Noffke, Marcia Lewis

Danish Arts Institute, Holbaek, Denmark
   Poul Havagaard 

College of Creative Studies, Detroit, MI

Shows 

Jewelry USA 
Sponsored by the American Craft Council; NYC & other cities throughout the US 

Artist Statement

I grew up in Michigan with its flat land, open skies, and beautiful Great Lakes. After receiving my BFA I moved to New York to be near the art world I loved. I found work as a graphic designer but my desire to continue in fine art drew me back to pursue my MFA. Upon its completion, I settled in New York, earning a living as a graphic designer while I continued to work on my sculpture and metalsmithing. Over the years I have been inspired by the art I have seen in New York and the places to which I have traveled. I have also been influenced by the organization and hierarchy skills I have developed as a designer.

Living in the city’s building filled environment I missed the wide skies of Michigan and this created a desire to include the element of light in my art. In addition to this, I had a long time fascination with the structure of fossilized skeletons, which I would draw at the Museum of Natural History. Seeing early flying machines on a trip to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum was a revelation to me. I was thrilled by the light penetrating their sheer cloth wings, disclosing the skeletal framework beneath. These early aviation inventions combined light and structure as I wished to include in my art and inspired my rice paper and wood sculpture, and in turn led to my mica jewelry.  

Throughout my work I like to juxtapose elements of nature with man imposed order. I am fascinated by the tension created by combining opposites and have used the opposing attributes of: reflective vs translucent; opaque vs transparent; substantial vs delicate; structural vs ethereal; and shadow vs light in my pieces.

My Constructivist Series is inspired by Constructivist art and its dynamic yet economical use of line, form and color. The pieces are composed of natural materials that have been given man-made geometric forms.

The Siena Series is inspired by the dark and light striped churches and massive ancient walls dotted with diminutive windows of Italy.

The Moon and Sea Series is inspired by pearls of the sea that resemble the light of the moon, and stones of the earth that resemble the shimmer of water. 

The Reflections Series is inspired by the structure and light in early flying machines and the reflective vs translucent characteristics of mica.