Ahead of the release of a new range of exclusive Laura Jane Scott artworks this month, we sat down with the experimental painter and sculptor to discuss her background, inspiration, creative process and style. Read the interview below, and check out Laura's collection here.
When did you realise you wanted to become an artist?
I have always loved creating and always known that making things would have to feature heavily in my life! I studied for an art foundation at Camberwell and then did a degree in Graphic Design at Ravensbourne College, before deciding I wanted to do less computer-based work and more making with my hands.
I worked in several different areas before deciding to pursue a career as an artist. I was incredibly fortunate that my first work was accepted to the Summer Exhibition at the Royal Academy, a space I had visited as an A-Level art student. Seeing my work displayed in the same galleries as the Sensation exhibition I had studied more than twenty years earlier was quite an exciting moment for me and set me on the path I am on now.
What is the lasting impression you want to leave on the viewers of your work?
My work is mostly about form, about giving colour a form, and doing it in a way that feels balanced and beautiful. I guess I’d like viewers of my work to feel enriched by the colours, or calmed by the simplicity, or whatever particular feeling I have tried to communicate with that work.
Where do you take inspiration from?
Everywhere! I’m inspired a lot by open-ended toys - a vocabulary of basic materials and shapes that can be used imaginatively. I love minimalist architecture and any environments that allow space for imagination and learning through play. I also just really love colour! So anything from stationery to fashion can spark an idea.
Can you talk us through your creative process? How do your ideas develop/begin?
My work usually starts with some pretty basic drawings, with a pencil and a ruler in my dot grid sketchbooks! I like to find a few angles or shapes that I can use together. I make mock-ups using grey board and play around with compositions and layouts. My aim is always to express an idea as simply and as elegantly as possible. I make decisions very intuitively, based on what feels balanced. I tend to work in series, so I’ll find several compositions that work and then add combinations of colours that tie the series together.
How does your first artwork compare to your most recent one?
My first artwork that was displayed publicly was a wall-mounted sculpture from my Perspective Study Series. It was small, made from laser-cut wood and painted in four complimentary colours that I still use often in my work. I’d say it is still very recognisably mine, and a good example of what I am consistently working with; sharp edges, clean lines and fields of saturated colour.
Head to Laura's collection to get your hands on her work and keep up to date with all of her releases.
