laura von rosk
Blow Down, 2025
Oil on wood panel, 10 x 8 inches
Laura Von Rosk earned her MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, and her BFA from SUNY Purchase. Her paintings have been exhibited nationally in both solo and group shows. Her awards include a New York State Council on the Arts Individual Artist Grant (2023), a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Painting(2004); an Individual Artist Support Grant from the Pollack-Krasner Foundation; and a Full Fellowship residency at both the Vermont Studio Center and the Karen Shea and Gabe Silverman Residency Fellowship from the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Other residency awards include Jentel, WY; Centrum, WA; Dorland Arts Colony, CA; NY Mills Cultural Center, MN; Acadia National Park, ME; Bernheim Foundation, KY, and in New York; Blue Mountain Center; Millay Colony; the Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts, and Yaddo. Two upcoming residencies in 2025 take place at Arte Studio Ginestrelle, Assisi, Italy, and The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Ireland.
In my recent series of works, certain objects (i.e.: fences, slate patio, arborvitae bushes, fallen trees) become the main elements driving a narrative. Working in a series allows me to test possibilities within a framework. For example: meandering fences can guide you, keep you out, or hold you in, welcome or limit you. The tonal range of light, or a fence line, directs the space. The shape and placement can add a sense of character to these objects, as well as to the landscape itself. Likewise, in the "Storm Damage Series," a tangled mess of fallen trees after a storm could represent confusion, chaos and grief.
When painting, I think about experiences of anticipation, reaction, and reflection with regards to place. Sometimes a work begins with a clear narrative, but shifts and unfolds over time, transforming into something unexpected, carrying multiple meanings, and perhaps contradictions. Other times, the filter of memory mixes with a desire to reinvent or cast a new light on a scene. Using both visual recall and invented forms, I create an atmospheric surreal space where the landscape holds traces from invisible people, suggesting both their presence and absence simultaneously.
