Laura Cavanagh is a 2-D mixed media artist living and working in Southeast Michigan. She works primarily with pen and ink, oil/soft pastels, and vintage paper ephemera.
Presented in this show is a body of work Cavanagh coins her ‘Queenies.’ These Queenies are inspired by medieval, Renaissance, and 18th/19th century portrait painting. She incorporates found vintage paper materials and other ephemera into her drawings as a way to further incorporate elements of the past as well as her own innate curiosity and sense of humor.
In addition to humor, Cavanagh’s work aims to evoke a sense of narrative, lavishness, and solitude. The notion of solitude, in particular, is evident by the singular Queenie within each frame. Save a pet, here or there, no other human companion exists alongside her.
Cavanagh, herself, is a solitary person who enjoys the company of good friends and family but feels the most recharged, invigorated, and inspired when she is able to work on art alone in her apartment (with, of course, her cat Benji as quality control).
Though it is always Cavanagh’s goal for viewers to assign their own experiences, associations and meanings to the work, she also hopes her viewers will take away a little bit of who she is and what inspires her. The visage of each Queenie is, in many ways, a portrait of Cavanagh, herself, and her varying moods, emotions, and general spirit on any given day. The whimsical bios Cavanagh assigns to each Queenie reflects this too, but is, quite simply, a further extension of her playfulness.
