Artist Statement

Combining her experience in art and horticulture, Laura Vulgaris paints and draws moody portraits of plants in black, white and greys, on repeat. Gathering her subject matter from photographs she has taken of real plants, she looks for instances where plants seem to arrange themselves aesthetically. The paintings meld Impressionist and Expressionist styles with a stripped-down aesthetic. Wet-in-wet impasto acrylic painting technique seeks a balance between imposed order and the uncontrollable properties of paint. In contrast, the drawings and prints, executed with pen on paper, recall the singular linework of early botanical illustration. In calling attention to each medium’s distinct qualities, she centers painting as painting, and drawing as drawing.