Artist Statement — May 2025

Laura Moore
Studio Artist: Sculpture and Photography

Inspired by my observations of Rust Belt laborers from farms to factories, my artistic practice highlights the physical impact of time and use on materials, allowing audiences to viscerally experience a representation of the infinite components within the working process of the American labor industries. Furthermore, preferential material weathering, found object integration, and valued imperfection are addressed as critical facets of the impermanent working process reflecting artistic theories of both Dadaism and Wabi Sabi. Through the utilization of found labor materials in sculptural pieces and imagery, my art aims to represent the span within the working process between ideation and completion where workers persevere through failure, adaptation, redirection, and toil: The Hard Part.

The labor industries are filled with repetitive processes and procedures; however, within this repetition coexists an aspect of unity between the worker and the work that cannot be separated after the work’s completion. My creative endeavors delve into how the idiosyncratic actions of a worker within the intricate dynamics of a labor process, while susceptible to approximate repetition, defy precise replication by any other individual. My art explores how the expectations of the work and commitment of the worker coincide in infinite micro moments that leave an indelible mark on both the work and the worker’s progression towards completion.

Additionally, the labor industry environment can be unpalatable and intimidating to society and is often depicted in ways that emphasize the distant enormity and the difficult intensity of the industrial workplace. My collection narrows the representation scope to the intricate components within the working process, allowing viewers an opportunity to relate to the intimate battles and breakthroughs that are consistent through the work of living. The art I have authored insists that the residue of America's labor force deserves depictions that illustrate the art of the working process. My art is not a documentation of a laborer’s completed work; it is a homage to the resilience embedded in enduring the process.

Resilience Work Description: Look to the statement wood – a 2ft found native barn timber– at the center of the sculpture intricately demonstrates 150 years of persistent use beneath 2,542 bent metal composite framing nails that failed to perforate the material’s heart. Instead, they highlight the wood’s historic resilience against a modern counterpart. The steel base – a 4 inch piece of roll steel heat stamped by a stick welding cut – presents the imperfect process that ultimately led to the stability of the structure and took the sculpture to completion. The piece’s focal moments coincide with the central point of all my art by addressing the core of the working process: The Hard Part.

Keywords: Labor, work, physical, repetition, endurance, imperfection, resilience, found materials

Curriculum Vitae

Email: LauraJMoore.art@gmail.com
Instagram: @LauraJMoore.art2025

Education

  • B.A. Ball State University — Cum Laude Graduate, May 2002 Majors: Photojournalism and Journalism Education | Minors: English Education
  • MFA Studio Arts, Purdue University — Expected Completion May 2026

Selected Juried Group Exhibitions

  • 2021 — Go Make a Thing! ARC Gallery, Chicago, IL (Black and White Photograph – Sky Joy)
  • 2022 — Art from the Heartland, Indianapolis Art Center (Sky Joy; Dedication)
  • 2023 — Small Works, Art Wise Gallery, Grand Forks, ND (Wood and Steel Sculpture “Breaking Point”)
  • 2024 — Art from the Heartland (Glove Sculpture – Totem; Glove Image – Insides)
  • 2025 — College Invitational, Indy Art Center (Resilience; Tapestry of Labor)

Graduate Shows and Exhibitions

  • 2023 — Disconnected: Purdue Graduate Installation Exhibition (Transparency Prints and Vinyl; Room Immersion “Hold Please!”)

Workshop Attendance

  • 2023 — Anderson Ranch: The Brutal and the Delicate

Awards

  • 2023 — Purdue-Delta Phi Delta Scholarship
  • 2023 & 2024 — Purdue-CLA Promise Grant

Photography Experience

  • 1998–Present — Freelance Portrait and Documentary Photographer, Moore Communications
  • 2000-2020 — Photography Workshop Instructor, Jostens & Ball State University
  • 2002–2014 — Photography Competition Judge, JEA/NSPA National Convention

Teaching Experience

  • 2002–2010 — Journalism, Photography and English Teacher, New Palestine High School
  • 2014–Present — English Teacher and Photography Club Sponsor, Carmel High School