Laura Peery

b. 1952, Washington, District of Columbia

SELECTED COLLECTIONS

Montgomery College, Rockville, MD
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
The White House, Washington, DC

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2003-08   Hot Tea!, del Mano Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2008        Playtime, VisArts, Rockville, MD
2007       Creative Craft Council Show, Bethesda, MD
2006       Dream Tea, Creative Partners Gallery, Bethesda, MD
                Go Figure, Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MA
2004       100 Teapots, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore, MD
2003       Domesticated Animals, Society of Arts and Crafts, Boston, MA
2002        All Dolled Up, The Suffolk Museum, Suffolk, VA
2001       If Memory Serves, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
                Fanciful Footwear, Greater Reston Arts Center, Reston, VA
2000        Celestial Seasonings: A Loose Interpretation V, Celestial Seasonings, Inc., Boulder, CO
1999        The White House Ornament Collection, The White House, Washington, DC
1997        Not Just Another Pretty Face: A Doll Show, Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA
1992        Mythmakers/Dollmakers, University of California Berkeley Museum, Blackhawk, CA
                The Society for Contemporary Crafts, Pittsburgh, PA
1991        Solo Exhibition, Collectors Gallery, The Oakland Museum, Oakland, CA
1990        In My House, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI
                Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Racine, WI
1989        New Art Forms, Chicago, IL
                Reordered Realities, Hand Workshop, Richmond, VA
1987        The Right Foot, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA
1984-87   Sculpture: Exploring Three Dimensions, Smithsonian Institution Travelling Exhibition
                Service, touring
1986        Solo Exhibition, Rock House Gallery, Arlington, TX
1981-84   American Porcelain: New Expressions in an Ancient Art, Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian
                Museum of American Art, Washington, DC, touring
1983        The Next Juried Show, Virginia Museum, Richmond, VA
1982        Solo Exhibition, Convergence Gallery, New York, NY
1980       Solo Exhibition, Arlington Arts Center, Arlington, VA

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2006       Ed Wargo, "Threads", Ceramics Monthly
2004       500 Figures in Clay: Ceramic Artists Celebrate the Human Form, Lark Books

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

My grandmother had a dress shop in New Orleans. My earliest memories of “College Frocks” are of the times I spent in the attic where alterations were made looking at colorful threads, scraps, buttons and scissors. These objects were mysterious and tempting and I imagined myself creating something wonderful and exotic. Later I began to sew many of my own clothes , but none lived up to my expectations.

When I discovered clay, it was probably no accident that I soon noticed the ways it could be made to resemble fabric. My clay of choice is porcelain, which has a fine texture and a pure white color. I create thin slabs by rolling it out, sandwiched between two canvas sheets, later imprinting these with lace or other textured materials. I also draw on the clay using thin wooden tools and use a dressmaker’s tracing wheel to make stitch marks. Molds of actual buttons are used to make my own button replicas. I drape, ruffle and pleat the clay as if it were linen.

When my grandmother died my mother closed the shop and gave me an old greed chest filled with most of the sewing accessories from the attic, including those tempting threats, scissors and jars and jars of buttons. Often I find just the right button to complete a piece or the perfect remnant of lace for an imprint, but I am very stingy with my collection, keeping the majority for visual inspiration. The past is with me every day.