Smokey Skies

by Laura Mychal

I work with found and recycled materials that are common to our lives, such as plastic bags and cardboard, to examine our relationship to waste and excess. I’m interested in looking at the connection between these materials, sustainable practices of reusing, and climate change. I transform these found materials so that they become natural landscapes; abstract fields of color and texture that mimic environmental forms. I’m interested in landscapes that are changing because of consumer waste and climate change, such as the oceans and deserts. I’m also exploring consumerism in how our practices also affect people’s lives and sense of self. How is our capitalistic mindset changing the land but also ourselves? While I look at these topics, I seek to highlight the inherent beauty in the material.

 

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Laura Mychal was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. She studied painting and sculpture at Mills College in Oakland, CA where she received her BA in Studio Arts in 2010. She went on to receive an MA in Community Art Education from the University of Arizona, on a Paul D. Coverdell Fellowship, and continued to expand upon on her art practice looking at place and people’s connection to the natural landscape. She has been working as an artist and educator in New York City for the past few years, showing in group shows in different galleries and pop-up shows as well as in large art fairs like. www.LauraMychal.com