Laura Redburn

Hailing from Wales, mixed media artist, Laura Redburn, has earned recognition for her tasteful collages that are inspired by color, animals, nature, science fiction, and dreams. Her work engages the audience to think of their own dreams, imagination, and experiences as her work are mere snapshots of her own world. Redburn has recently been featured on the blog of Free People and her work can be viewed here.

How did you first get started with your career?
In terms of making any kind of art, pretty much since I was a child. But really, since I was about 16 or so was when I started to really make it the focus of most of my energy. There have been times where I’ve done very little, but everybody gets creative shock! I try and keep myself busy with little projects even if they go no where, as long as it’s even a little creative. I feel like only now I’m starting to “get” somewhere, and I think that’s partly because I’m always contacting blogs and websites. But mostly because I decided to use collages as my main creative force. I just feel like it was totally natural and meant for me to do.

What inspired you to create collages rather than focusing on other mediums of art?
I had done the odd collage over the years, and had a small interest in them. But when I started college in 2006, I discovered so many artists I’d never heard of before and new, interesting ways of working. Through researching for projects in the library and on the internet, I suddenly started coming across numerous collage and photomontage artists, and rediscovering artists whose style fits along these lines. A huge influence at the beginning was David Hockney’s photomontages. There’s just something about them that’s so full of life and energy, and I love that. I love he uses color, and although my style in nothing like his, he was definitely one of the factors for my decision to start making collages. Same with Robert Rauschenberg and Kurt Schwitters. Saying that though, it wasn’t a conscious decision as such, it kind of just happened naturally in my sketchboards and grew from there.

Is there a story behind each piece that you create?
Depends! Often, it’s just imagery that pops into my head based upon an image I’ve found that I like. The only way I can work well is by letting the image (as a whole) just come to me, naturally and organically. I hate the idea of things being contrived so wherever I can, I will always go with my instinct. Sometimes I will have a rough idea in my mind from a dream I’ve had, or something based upon a scene from a film. I will work on that in a way that works with my process. I prefer for people to make up their own stories what my work means, if it means anything at all to them. I’m an escapist and a dreamer at heart so in essence, that’s the main story behind my pieces.

Where do you draw most of your inspiration from?
Nature, especially flowers and animals. Little things from every day life, dreams films, color, patterns, and so much more.

Have you gained more recognition after your feature on Free People’s blog?
A little, not much. More than anything I’ve had a bit more traffic to my site, which seems to be continuing. So maybe someone from a magazine or something might see my work at some point and commission me to do something. That would be fantastic. I was glad to be featured on there though, nice to be alongside such loveliness!

You mix many different themes in your work. Is there a singular message you hope to get across in all of your pieces?
As I said before, for the most part I don’t always have something I want to say with my work. Some people see that as superficial I guess, but for me, I’m just creating something that flows naturally from my heart and that’s what should really matter. In the end, if someone sees my work and they can identify with it in some way, makes them feel food, or puts a smile on their face, then that’s a pretty good message to get across I think!

Do you hope to showcase your work in any art exhibitions in the future?
I would absolutely love to. I’ve had no opportunities yet, but if there’s anyone out there that would like to offer me a spot in a solo or group exhibition, that would be amazing.