Laurel Lukaszewski shows at NIH!

Laurel Lukaszewski
Night, 2014 ceramics

Artist Statement:

I am fascinated by repetitive forms found in nature, in patterns that seem to make sense out of chaos. I enjoy the poignancy that exists on the edge of celebration and loss, capturing the nostalgia that occurs when one suddenly experiences something long forgotten. Most of my installations identify with the idea of a moment captured in time, a nod to the concept originally from the Japanese tea ceremony of “ichi-go ichi-e” which translated means something close to “in one lifetime, one meeting” or “once in a lifetime.”

My works are most often installed on-site in response to their surroundings, whether extruded clay forms resembling three-dimensional line drawings or individually sculpted objects that multiply into the thousands. These sculptural drawings develop much like graphite on paper, being built up or “erased” when pieces are added or removed. Each time I install a work, it is different. When it is moved, it is dismantled and when reinstalled, it is reconfigured to respond to its new space. For me, this mutability is a fascinating and important aspect of the work, realizing that it will only exist as it is in the present.

Artist Background:

Laurel Lukaszewski is a Washington, DC-area based artist who creates installations and sculptures primarily from clay. Much of her work is composed of extruded forms resembling three-dimensional line drawings or calligraphic brushstrokes and is influenced by her graduate studies and work with Japan over the past two decades.

Laurel has exhibited in galleries and at art fairs across the country and in the UK. Since 2006, she has had ten solo exhibitions in the US, most recently at Messiah College in Grantham, PA and the Art Registry in Washington, DC.

A founding member of Flux Studios in Mt. Rainier, MD, Laurel was a visiting artist at Seattle’s Pottery Northwest in summer 2008 and the 2009 ARTworks artist-in-residence at the Holland Hall School in Tulsa, OK. She has served on a number of nonprofit boards including the Washington Sculptors Group, the National Cherry Blossom Festival and the Washington Project for the Arts Artist Council.

Please visit www.laurellukaszewski.com for more information.