Here’s one kind of paper cut that won’t make you recoil in pain.
Laura Alexander calls her works “paper cuts,” but the similarities between her brand of art and the scourge of the office worker end at the name. Her method of layering and cutting makes intricate patterns and three-dimensional shapes out of paper.
“I went to school to paint, but I did not want to paint,” Alexander says. “They have these foundations courses that are a mixture of each medium. This is where I was introduced to fibers.”
Weaving, sculpture, glasswork and installation art were all part of Alexander’s education in fibers, but she soon veered off in another direction.
“These works started getting really big and really heavy as you added layers to them,” she says. “I hit the brakes on the way to a show and I broke four pieces. I came back to my studio and decided to work with paper.”
One of her biggest inspirations is the natural world.
“I take a lot in from nature, mainly winter and clouds,” she says. “I’m one of those crazies who love big blankets of snow. I just start going with it and I fall into a meditative process while I draw patterns.”
Alexander also draws inspiration from music – preferably slow and soft genres, particularly folk. She cites Neutral Milk Hotel, The Dirty Projectors and Sonic Youth as some of her favorites.
“I listen to bands that have a lot of noise and then silence,” she says. “I want to see that in my art. I consider these works to be stories.”
Each piece can take anywhere from hours to weeks to complete. Some pieces never feel completely finished, while others have an obvious end point.
“I did a piece for a show in Grand Rapids and the piece was 8 foot by 9 foot and took six weeks, almost 300 hours to complete,” she says. “I just get to a point where I know it’s done. Sometimes it’s when there is no space left and sometimes there are pieces you want to spend a lifetime with.”
Her most time-consuming work to date has racked up more than 500 hours.
Alexander is a graduate of Columbus’ Fort Hayes Career Center and holds a bachelor’s degree in fine art from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she focused on fibers and video. After graduating from Maryland Institute, she took a year off and spent time in California.
“I honestly hated it there,” she says. “I started applying to schools and the University of Washington offered me a full ride. I went to teach, because that’s what I thought I wanted to do.”
After receiving her master’s, she came back home to Columbus and taught briefly at an extracurricular Saturday morning class for second-graders at the Columbus College of Art and Design.
Alexander’s first break came three years ago at ArtPrize, an independently organized international art competition held each year in Grand Rapids.
“I received top 10 out of 1,900 pieces,” she says. “I went into that show with no expectations because I had never done it. I was just happy to show at the museum. There were about 160,000 people who came through the museum.”
Her end goal is to, one day, use her artwork as a sustainable career and travel to various countries. She is currently an associate with Chase Bank.
“Everybody wants their passion to become their day job, right?” she says with a laugh. “I absolutely love my job. They know I’m an artist there and it’s a great company. Most wouldn’t let you leave for a few months to go to Germany, but they support me. I am incredibly lucky.”
The artist’s parents are also supportive of her pursuits.
“My dad can’t wait to set up my basement studio and set up the lights down there,” Alexander says. “They help me move and they embrace what I do.”
And even though she has been all over the U.S., she always finds herself back in Columbus.
“Columbus is such a great place,” she says. “It’s so supportive of the arts and the scene is incredible. I just had to go out and do my thing for a while. Your life is your life, no matter where you are. It’s what you make of it.”
Soon enough, Alexander’s work will be taking her out of the country. In September, the Greater Columbus Arts Council announced she had earned a spot in its 2014 Artist Exchange Program, a residency program that sends local artists to Dresden, Germany.
Alexander also received a GCAC Visual Arts Fellowship in 2012.
In addition, one of her pieces was accepted as a prize for the Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Community Arts Partnership Awards, which were given out in October. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, which won the small business category for its support of the arts in Columbus, received the piece, titled Scalloped.
Before she heads overseas, Alexander has a few local shows to prepare for.
“I’m so excited, so it’s easy to fall behind,” Alexander says. “I’ll catch up though. I just won’t sleep.”
Alexander’s work is on display as part of Cut and Tom: Paperscapes at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center through Dec. 28 and as part of Small and Wonderful at Hammond Harkins Galleries through Jan. 5.
Stephan Reed is an editorial associate. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
