Laura Balombini

LAURA BALOMBINI
b. 1952, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2004 Hot Tea! 2004, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2003 Sophisticated Figures, Non-Traditional Dolls, Contemporary Artists, Ohio
Craft Museum, Columbus, OH
Moves in Polymer Clay, Brookfield Craft Center, Brookfield, CT
2001 Explorations in Polymer Clay, Artisans Center, McLean, VA
48th Florida Craftsmen Exhibition, Ft. Myers, FL
Featured Artist, Gallery 500, Elkins Park, PA
2000 Storytellers, Featured Artist, Davidson & Daughter Gallery, Portland, OR
1999 Overview in Polymer, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA
POP: Panorama of Polymer, Business of Art Center, Manitou Springs, CO
1998 Moving Forward with Polymer Clay, Strathmore Hall Arts Center,
Bethesda, MD
1997 Recent History of Polymer Clay, Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts,
Gatlinburg, TN

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2001 Wire in Design, Krause Publishing
1998 Artists at Work, Flower Valley Press
1997 Creating with Polymer Clay, Lark Books

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

"You must give great pleasure to many people," a woman said to me at one of my last shows of the year, and, although I often receive words of praise for the color and liveliness of my figures, the thought of giving pleasure is what stayed with me that day. I have made artwork in some form all my life and, beginning in college, have made a living at it. That, too, is important with family and home and life, as we know it. But gradually, the importance of the message I portray has entered my work in a quiet way. Ones thoughts and ideas are not always pretty, so it becomes a balancing act to make a living with your work and also share your thoughts and ideas where they can be seen and felt. By giving visual pleasure to the viewer, I hope to open the door to other emotions, as well.

Having started out as a ceramicist, I was drawn to this new medium of polymer because of its versatility and simplicity. It requires less equipment and is transportable for short-term teaching workshops. It has the best qualities of clay, yet has some special applications all its own. I added the woven steel wire when I realized I wanted to do larger pieces, and, rather than go back to stoneware clays, I sought a new material that was light, readily available and would let me expand my work to suit my imagination. The polymer and wire together have opened up many new areas of exploration. I hope to continue with this new mixed medium and allow time to do larger pieces and groupings.

I continue to give workshops for small groups at art schools and associations around the country or here in my studio in Blue Hill, Maine. I am finding that amateur artists of all ages are seeking venues to explore their own creativity, and the exuberance of sculpture class is catching.

At first glance, doll-like, my figures are meant to capture a moment or a gesture. I am a storyteller who tells tales of the people behind the scene. I like to note what's going on in the background at the opera, or in the audience up in the balcony, the supporting actors in a movie or even just the guy selling tickets, small events made into three-dimensional statements of real and imagined times and places.

As a woman, there are times when I feel I should do more to help mend the world's ills. As a mother, I struggle to keep my own family in repair. But as an artist, if I do my job well, I can bring "great pleasure to many people", and that's do able.