Laura Delaney
In Residence, 16th – 25th August.
Laura Delaney is a visual artist based in Melbourne, Australia. In 2013, Laura will be artist in residence with Forest Fringe in Edinburgh, Fierce Festival in Birmingham, and Italy. Throughout the Festival program Laura will be exploring new forums for generating site-specific work internationally, following on from her site-specific projects in 2010 & 2012 Next Wave Festival; Australia’s leading festival for young artists.
Laura’s practice is framed by her community-led approach and distinctive research methods. Her process-driven projects respond to the reciprocal relationships she fosters within a site’s community, underpinned by a culmination of social, cultural and historical references gathered on site. Laura’s art practice forms a continuing social allegory, examining society and its nature, its habits, environments and systems of communication. Her site-specific installations invite audiences to reconsider the physical and political spaces we occupy, opening up new possibilities with which to engage with social memory and meaning.
Laura is currently undertaking research for a new body of work in collaboration with video artist Lisa Stewart. Their research is based on the phenomenon of public bathing and its significance in culture, both past and present. The project will respond to the differing social and political exchanges that take place around water from one country to the next, blending history with mysticism.
Laura holds a Masters of Fine Art by Research, 2011, from Monash University, Melbourne and has completed artist residencies in Prato, Italy, in 2006 & 2009. Laura has exhibited at various Melbourne galleries, co-run SEVENTH gallery (a non-profit artist-run gallery and residency space), presented site-specific work with major Festivals and created public commissions throughout Melbourne.
Image credit: HULL, 2012, (detail) found archival photograph, courtesy from Mission to Seafarers Collection, Melbourne, for 2012 Next Wave Festival
Tags: Forest Fringe 13, Visual Art