Laura Patterson
Brisbane-based artist Laura Patterson’s practice is informed by her background in architecture and her continued investigation of visual art as a means of synthesising multiple ideas into a single object.
While interest across historical research and technical precision underpin her work, her central focus is on capturing the ambiguity that exists between the reality and the illusion of her figurative landscapes. Her most recent series looking at pockets of remnant old growth rainforest ferns began as a response to the early 2020 Australian bushfires.
The duality of this series presents moments of our natural landscapes, protectively housed within elaborate framing devices. The natural landscapes feature plants which have historically been considered prized specimens, frequently transported around the world to satisfy horticultural fashions. The frame touches on the historical link between these landscapes and the architecture that was created to house and transport them. Rather than select specimens being taken from their ecosystem and cultivated within manmade glasshouses, these landscapes and frames exist symbiotically.
In 2021 Patterson was highly commended in the Hawkesbury Art Prize and was commissioned to make new work for ‘City in the Sun’, a major exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane.
Laura has a Bachelor of Architectural Design and a Masters of Architecture from University of Queensland.
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