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Lawrence Edward McLaughlin: sculptor, painter and printmaker Born in Litchfield,Minnesota in 1956, McLaughlin first took up sculpture while studying at the University of California at Santa Cruz in the 1970s. Later he worked in London, painting and printmaking. In 1988 he completed studies at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux Arts in Paris, focusing on sculpture. His work was first shown there in the Atelier Charpentier. McLaughlin maintains studio-residences in France and the United States. He currently keeps a workshop in the Loire Valley in France and another on two acres of desert in Phoenix, Arizona/USA. McLaughlin on his work: “Nature and environment play a large part in my sculpture, and the organic figures refer to visions of the natural world. They tap into the essential nature of man—a vigorous force that evokes movement, tension and sensuality. “I want my forms to be compatible with their environment—to be toyed with and reconsidered, not looked at as finished compositions. My intention is not to be specific or literal. “I start my work with models, usually using a monotype, which enables me to envision a free form. This allows an immediate expression, sometimes sensual, sometimes confused, with possible conscious or unconscious social /sexual connections. “The paintings also refer to the natural. Style here is not an objective. There is no brushwork, no real prominent features or techniques to consider. Painting is painting. The natural environment is my structure. I see it as a division and arrangement of space where there are none. Illumination and light (or lack of) play a large part, even if that is not necessarily obvious. I definitely do not want to attempt to reproduce nature or the human form. Rather, I prefer to attract nature and combine with nature, grabbing light and shadow, so as to leave an elegant simplicity and a liberal animation.”
McLaughlin’s sculpture, prints and paintings have been featured in solo and group shows in France, Germany, London, Switzerland and in North American cities, including New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Phoenix and others. His sculpture is noted for its fluid motion and humorous and dynamic configurations. McLaughlin sculpts in concrete, bronze, aluminum and glass.
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