Laura Van Duren, assemblage companion pottery sculpture group

Made from hand built slab clay on antique iron screw supports. The clay sculptures depicting houses, each with scrafitto designs on each faceted side. Each side depicting varying surrealist scenes; monkey balanced on a martini glass, a winking figure and a lighthouse hot air balloon, the other with watering can, tendrils, aeroplane landing by trees and a dressed invisible figure. 

Larger: 11.0cm width x 31.0cm height x 10.0cm depth 

Smaller: 9.0cm width x 21.0cm height x 7.5cm depth

Signed “L Van Duren 2005”

BIO

Laura Van Duren is an interdisciplinary artist based in Oakland, California. Her abstract work is often a combination of drawing, ceramics, glycerin soap, found objects and fabric. Her recent work employs an energetic color palette of ceramic sculptures that explores how play can be used as an act of resistance asserting the importance of joy, community, and self-expression in the face of oppressive systems. She is one of the founding members of Mercury 20 Gallery, situated in the heart of Oakland’s art scene. She works with the Peter Voulkos family helping to manage the archival aspect of his collection which has had a profound influence on her practice. She is an adjunct professor teaching ceramics and sculpture at multiple community colleges. Her recent exhibitions in the San Francisco Bay Area include the Sonoma Museum of Art, Southern Exposure, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art and the Berkeley Art Center; she was also awarded an Open Studio residency at Haystack in Maine in 2023. Van Duren received her BFA in drawing from Carnegie Mellon University and completed her MFA in sculpture at San Francisco State University in 2017.