Laura Sharp Wilson

Gallery Affiliations: McKenzie Fine Art

Region: West

My visual language is rooted in textile design—from William Morris’s decorative patterns and the Constructivist designs of Vavara Stepanova to Indian palampore (bed curtains) from the eighteenth century. The delineated renderings of Keith Haring have influenced my flat way of working. I have imitated the way Chris Ofili uses repeated small dots to make a space active. Frida Kahlo, Yayoi Kusama, and Adolph Wolfi have inspired my obsessive, crowded compositions.

There are two ways my paintings start: with a general form or with a clear visual concept. An example of a general form would be a gray geometric web. A recent example of a visual concept is the layering of falling botanical forms so dense that the background is barely visible. While working, I add a step to the one before to allow the painting to become dense. I am rarely unable to finish a piece; I develop it until it enters the visual forum I have invented. Seldom does a painting look the way I might imagine. This is the dialogue and adventure I seek.