Check out Laura Amphlett’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Amphlett.

Laura, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
I was born in California but tend to say I’m from here since I’ve lived here since I was ten. I am nearly 26 years old now. I started drawing at a young age and was more immersed in art when I attended Metropolitan Arts High School. At Metro Arts, I had amazing teachers that really paved the way to my understanding of creating. I then went on to attend Phoenix College where I received a full ride Eric Fischl scholarship. Feeling like I needed a change of pace, I went to a beautiful place called Bath, England where I studied Fine Art at the Bath Spa University for a year. It was in that environment that I was able to discover my love for a somewhat unusual medium, acrylic. They had an open plastics workshop where I spent most of my time, using the laser engraver and manipulating acrylic. This led me on to focusing my degree in Sculpture. For my last three years of college, I remained at ASU where I graduated last Fall (2017) from ASU’s Sculpture program.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
It was at ASU where I developed my love for Neon, a more rare offering from universities. I was able to also incorporate my laser-etched acrylic sculpture and combine the neon to create a dynamic of material that works for me. Drawing, my first love, is integral to my work, it serves as the basis to the majority of my pieces. I often return to various sketchbooks to pull ideas from seemingly fleeting thoughts on the pages, and these drawings are converted to digital files that eventually translate through a machine (laser engraver, plotter, printer, etc.) to reinterpret or appropriate. I then create sculptural and/or dimensional pieces from these sketchbook works, playing with a connection between the 2D and 3D world, where dimensionality can be real or implied. The use of layering, transparency, and symbolism suggest a mysterious yet personal narrative open to the viewer to investigate. The questions my works raise relate to identity, human interaction, and existence. This Summer I was lucky enough to attend the Digital Sculpture Program in Northern Italy. It’s a program that combines new and old technology. Artists send a 3D design over, and the design files are interpreted and carved into marble by a 5-axis robot. We then spent a month finishing the works in Gramolazzo, Italy. The sculptures are currently on display at a gallery in Forte de Marmi, along with the coast of Italy. This was my first time working with marble, and I was able to combine the beautiful stone with very contrasting acrylic. It was an amazing experience that I cherish.

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I think artists have always had a sense that they feel a certain degree more than the average person, it comes with the job that we do. We are constantly thinking of ways to express ideas, so our thoughts naturally translate whatever is going on in our worlds. Given the current state, I think this sense is just on a more extreme level. I’ve noticed that my work has been more incisively about issues relating to the female identity, I think in part because consciously and subconsciously the issues we face seem more apparent than ever.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
Through my website: www.lamphlett.us

Contact Info:

• Website: www.lamphlett.us
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/puure_l/?hl=en

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.