Laura Vela

Laura Vela (1983)

Laura Vela researches concept and meaning behind the words identity and time, and uses them as the ideological basis for her creative work, demonstrating contemporary anxiety while exploring new forms and techniques. Artist refers to the impact of soviet occupation trauma on the identity of a modern human as well as the mythology of quantum physics.
Laura Vela develops her technique by combining academic traditions of painting and drawing with new materials and media. Her main creative impulse stems from the explorations and observations of the social environment and identity/space. The form of the chosen artwork also plays a great importance for the artist. Just like a box of „Secrets” it is suitable for the fragmentation and storage of the memories and invites the viewer to approach it from a very close distance. The reflective surface of artworks creates a new time, synthesized from the perception of present in the past and the present occurring now.

Recent artworks from Laura Vela’s exhibition „Defragmentation of Mind” (2020) reflect observations of fragmented memories forming one’s identity, how each occuring recollection overwrites yet another fragment of memory and how, as with retelling of stories, they too change over time. How the retold stories form fictionate memories about things that have never even happened to us, so that we trick ourselves with their colourful brightness.

„Sometimes I feel as if memories are the same as the game called „Secrets” that we played as kids. Every once in a while I dust the sand off to see if they have changed, or perhaps, it is just my attitude that changes?
Observing the memory research we can ask ourselves a question – what are the memories of our identity, special childhood places where everything was possible?” Laura Veļa.

Laura Vela (1983) graduated from the Art Academy of Latvia and acquired Boris and Inara Teterevs’ foundation scholarship for master’s studies. From 2014 onwards she has participated in numerous group exhibitions in Latvia, Lithuania and Germany, as well as held three personal exhibitions.
The artist uses a wide arrange of materials – her most common form of expression is painting, however, she has also created installations, video art, animations and performances.