Laura Olear
Chicago, Illinois, USA

Artist’s statement

This series of mixed media drawings is abstracted from biological imagery. They explore issues of control over one’s own health in the form of “self-inflicted” conditions or diseases.

Obesity, anorexia, smoking, tanning, excessive alcohol consumption, and self-mutilation can all result in a variety of potentially life-threatening conditions. One could argue, in fact many assume, that these conditions are self-inflicted. Others might argue that some of these conditions are genetically predisposed and therefore not under the victims’ control. I hope to bring forth the viewer’s biases regarding control/lack of control over one’s health.

It is my intention to elicit the tension between the discomfort of the content and the beauty of the form.