Laurie Cole ~ 'The Shedding of the Bird Suit'

“Laurie Cole is a painter whose work combines ever changing memories and storytelling. Her work, often autobiographical, forms an ebb and flow of narrative that references back to itself and looks at ideas of femininity, parenthood, comfort, fear and love. Working instinctively, Laurie builds layers of paint and other materials that can be worked into and changed as her ideas progress, aiding the process of self-reflection in her practice.

In this series of large paintings and smaller works on paper, Laurie intertwines her own ideas of fear and femininity with stories of monstrous women from folklore and Greek mythology. Flipping the idea that they were written to be a warning to women that dared to be anything other, they become not feared for their otherness but like guardians that protect, guide and comfort each other. In this new series of works, tongues flick, whip and twist in the air, birds swoop and shape shift, onlookers stare unruly and larger than life. These spontaneous and fragmented works celebrate and softly harness the idea of female monstrosity into a unique force.”