Louise Laplante

Raven Reads the Lines: Chalk Drawing of Black Bird on Vintage Book Pages

2019

Figurative chalk drawing of grey, black, and teal clouds and birds silhouetted on collaged vintage music pages 'Black Bird Tours Around the World ' by Louise Laplante in 2022 silhouettes made with chalk on vintage collaged music pages 24 x 30 inches unframed, 27.5 x 33.5 inches in natural light wood frame with non-glare plexi Louise Laplante bridges the past and present with mixed media drawings made with figurative charcoal silhouettes juxtaposed on collaged sheets of vintage paper. Finding beauty in forgotten or discarded sheets of ephemera, Laplante uses it as a guide for playful compositions of stenciled birds in mid-flight, drifting feathers, or taxidermized deer heads in rich pastel. A final burst of wistful linework glides over the pastel forms, accentuating her subject’s movement while adding another layer of texture. In this particular work, the artist using a palette of black, grey and shades of blue and teal to compose a balanced graphic of fluffy clouds extending above a single black bird. In certain segments the stenciled images are delicately brushed over with a thin wisp of chalk which adds a delicate textured effect to the drawing. The drawing is framed with a light wood frame and has non-glare plexi glass galzing. About the artist: Interested in blending the old world with the new, mixed media artist Louise Laplante combines her original images with ephemera of the past, enticing a conversation about it’s “relevancy to the present.” Her compositions begin with vintage book pages, personal handwritten letters, sheet music, or instruction from old guides on etiquette or science. While the text itself is weighted with reference to a particular subject, the visual of the typed or handwritten words and printed illustrations establish a unique pattern. These layered backgrounds are superimposed with opaque charcoal drawings that are inspired by the themes read between the lines. Most recently, the artist has opted for larger scale work, combining multiple sheets of vintage paper to expand her unique motifs. Laplante exhibits across the Northeast and has shown with Carrie Haddad for more than ten years. Artist Statement: My work connects the texts, and ideas, in the vintage book, music or correspondence pages, with images those words evoke to comment on how the past still resonates, whether we are aware of it or not. It is informed by my love for old paper, letters, books and images, both as reminders of the past and as bits of pattern, tone, line and shape. The text on them acts as both content and visual device. With each work, I select, arrange and collage these pieces creating both a support and pattern building on it with motifs that are suggested by words on the papers. Although I often start with an agenda I always allow each work to build its own image. Artist Resume: Education MA in Fine Art, State University of New York at Albany, New York BFA, College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, New York Studied, Art Institute of Boston, Boston, Massachusetts Exhibitions 2019 Mediums of Exchange, Lehman College Art Gallery, Lehman College, CUNY, Bronx, New York 2018 Figures We Fancy, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York Shelter, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts Material Flow: Rhythm in Collage and Sculpture, Pratt Gallery, Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont 2017 Abstractions in Black and White, Gallery 175 Pawtucket, Rhode Island Blanche Ames National, Borderlands, North Easton, Massachusetts Five Points Biennial, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, Connecticut A Declaration of Sentiments: Reflections on the Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote in NYS, Athens Cultural Center, Athens, New York 2016 Winter Exhibit, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York 2015 Boston Biennial 4, Atlantic Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts Drawing, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York Taking Root: Caniskek and the Meeting of Two Worlds, Athens Cultural Center, Athens, New York North Northeast, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, Vermont NBMMA 45th Exhibition, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut 2014 New Directions ’14, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, New York Connecticut Women Artists – 85th National, Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, Connecticut New England Collective V, Galatea Fine Art, Boston, Massachusetts Boston Biennial 3, Atlantic Works Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts 2013 Storytellers and Conjurers, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York 2012 Works on Paper, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York Drawing, b.j. spoke gallery, Huntington, New York Strange Glue, Thompson Gallery, Weston, Massachusetts Silhouette, A.P.E., Northampton, Massachusetts The Cadence of Familiarity, Krauss Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island 2011 20th Anniversary Exhibition, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York Paperworks, Paper City Studios, Holyoke, Massachusetts Small Works, Towne Gallery, Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts 2010 Text/Context, McCoy Gallery, Merrimack College, North Andover, Massachusetts A Community of Artists, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, Massachusetts Here and Gone: Presence, Absence, Memory and Time, Amy H. Carberry Fine Art Gallery, Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, Massachusetts 2009 Dreamscape, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York 2008 Small ’08, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts Interaction: Louise Laplante and Liz Chalfin, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst Massachusetts Artists and Books, Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, Massachusetts One Night, Pivot Gallery, Florence, Massachusetts 2007 20 Artists X 2 Feet, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts Biennial 2007, New Hampshire Art Institute, Manchester, New Hampshire Salon, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Massachusetts 2006 Small: 20 Artists X 2 Feet, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts Salon, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Massachusetts 2004 On Paper, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York Encaustics, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York New Acquisitions, University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 2003 Hart Gallery...

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