Laural Hartman
Pittsford, NY
“I aim to communicate the unique perspective and insights that come from living in a world where sound is not a primary source of information.”
As a painter and printmaker, Laural is constantly exploring the concept of incidental learning and how it shaped her perception of the world. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Laurel was surrounded by vibrant artists and performers. Her father was a photographer and her family encouraged creative expression.
For Laural, observation was key to her understanding of the world. She shares, “Growing up deaf, I was always acutely aware of my surroundings and had to rely heavily on my visual sense.” As she moved through the world, Laural took special note of the mundane and overlooked. She also found joy in incidental learning. Laural explains, “Incidental learning is the unintentional learning that occurs when we observe and absorb information without consciously trying to do so. For me, this has been a crucial aspect of my development as an artist.”
This heightened awareness of her environment greatly influenced her artistic style and subject matter. Laural’s often explores the concept of mapping in the areas of incidental exposure, personal reflections and conversations. Through a mix of documentation and investigation, she uses her personal experiences to inspire her artwork. Laurel explains, “I aim to communicate the unique perspective and insights that come from living in a world where sound is not a primary source of information.”
Laural expresses the nuances and complications of life by layering physical ephemera with mediums such as oil paint, sticks and wax, mixed with powerful screen printed patterns, which evoke richness, depth, and the urge to touch. She explains, “I draw wild gestures and free flowing marks, often leaving traces of previous layers that remain visible, allowing colors to interact in ways I could not have anticipated. I connect and channel my own direct emotion and intuitive responses to a specific journey in my life until it becomes absolute abstraction.” Often, her work retains some degree of ambiguity and mystery; they remain secrets to be unlocked by the viewer.
Laurel’s work often starts with a depiction of a map or a photo of a landscape. Her gravitation towards maps started in her formative years, where she spent long periods of time on the train to go to school and events. Laurel utilized the maps to see where she was traveling, and these countless hours of visual study seeped into her artwork. Maps also ground her work in a place or a specific time of life. These maps and landscapes may later become disguised amidst the prints and pops of color, but for Laural, they remain as the initial point of inspiration.
Overall, her favorite process is screen printing, due to the way she can create a personal bank of images. This becomes her collection that she can reuse over and over, and create threads of familiarity through different works. She has a strong illustration background as well, which sneaks its way into the planning and execution of her art.
Creativity has helped Laural find her sense of place. Her work helps her communicate with people outside of her community. Through ArtLifting, she hopes to garner exposure and find placements for her work all over the country and world. Her dream is to see her work on products at stores like Anthropologie or west elm. Laural is excited to be part of a new community in ArtLifting that will help her branch out to other venues and create her brand.
Laural works as a senior lecturer at Rochester Institute of Technology in the Department of Visual Communications Studies, with connections to the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She volunteers with the New England Old English Rescue and is an advisor for DOVES, an organization to empower Deaf and Hard of Hearing women on campus. Laural often lends her art and design service to different deaf supported organizations such as National Association for the Deaf (NAD), Rochester Deaf Kitchen, and Convo Communications. She is passionate about improving language deprivation in deaf children and making American sign language as accessible as possible. As a full time artist and professor, her free time is quite limited, but she enjoys traveling and spending time with her son whenever she can.
