Laura Donkers - Reflective Practice

As part of the International Summer Experience tuition, I attended a great presentation by Laura Donkers

Fresh from her return journey, literally two days, it was inspirational to watch Laura engage in a reflective dialogue, not only with herself, but us as the audience.

I was particularly struck by the title of her work 'YOU ARE NOT OUTSIDE'....an reminder of my belief that our creativity is found deep within.

I loved the detail with which Laura described her creative practice; in this instance of placing paper on the landscape and using a technique called 'Frottage' to create intricate and beautiful drawings. Using a variety of resilient tough papers; delicate translucent Japanese paper; giant size scrolls, and combinations of graphite, charcoal, I was struck by how much intricate detail appeared and how many of the drawings looked as if they were topographical images taken from space.
The culmination of these works resulted in the creation of a paper dress. Using a familiar 'object' as a vehicle to view the drawings, I loved how the dress was photographed against a stylised wallpaper image of foliage....in complete contrast to the random beauty found in the natural patterns that the frottage created.