On Exhibit in Taproot’s Kendall Center Lobby

Beyond the Meadow: Paintings by Laura Lasworth

March 20 – April 29, 2023

“There is at the back of all our lives an abyss of light,
more blinding and unfathomable than any abyss of darkness.”

– g.k. chesterton

The works included in this exhibition were selected specifically for Taproot Theatre’s production of the play, As It Is in Heaven.

The work on view here represents a personal reflection on the nature of contemplative prayer.  Contemplation may be described as simply resting in Divine presence. Some see it as a way of listening with the heart. Artmaking can be a contemplative practice. One that affects us internally, through our thoughts and emotions, as well as externally, through the creation of objects and images that can serve as sources of inspiration to engage in the creative process with contemplative awareness.

The repeated use of lace imagery metaphorically illustrates the fragility of bonds to our fellows and to faith itself. The negative space representing Absence – the threads and knots Presence – which together create a pattern that weaves experiences of joy and suffering into something hopefully beautiful. The drawings here traverse a journey through a region where faith, or faulty intuition at best, are the only tools of navigation on route to a more luminous region of hope.

– Laura Lasworth

When selecting an artist to exhibit during the run of As It Is in Heaven, there really was no better choice than Laura Lasworth. Her work speaks directly and distinctively to the image we have of quietude, contemplation, and prayerfulness of the Shaker community. Her work is also exquisitely reflective of a light within that seems at once reachable and elusive.

Laura Lasworth received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and MFA from California Institute of the Arts. Since her first solo show in 1981, she’s consistently exhibited her work in numerous solo and group shows. Her work has been featured in such publications as Art in America, Artforum, the LA Times, and IMAGE Journal.  She is Professor Emeritus at Seattle Pacific University.

All works in the exhibition are available unless marked by a red dot. Please contact the artist directly to purchase, llasworth@icloud.com. More work can be seen at www.lauralasworth.com.

– Gina Cavallo, Curator, Director of Development, Taproot Theatre