Laura Davis: New Work at The Palmer Gallery

by Kate Soczka

When you walk into an art gallery after a long Friday in the office you want to be entertained.  You want to see something that causes your eyebrow to rise, a smirk to emerge, or provokes some sort of inspirational artsy-fartsy thought process.  Well, at least I do.  I walked into the Palmer Gallery at 233 West Huron for the Friday night reception of Chicago artist, Laura Davis. Upon entering the show, aptly titled, New Work, I saw a strange, spikey, dinosaur tooth-looking sculpture hanging from the ceiling, swathed in chains.  Weird.  Kinda  cool.  Eyebrow rise…Check.  What else ya got?

Unicorns

I rounded the corner and saw three tri-colored unicorn heads mounted on poles, and immediately, the little girl inside me declared this show a victory.  Davis’ unicorns are crafted from a mish-mash of wood, plaster, cement, fabric, wax, wire, and paint.  They had me instantly wishing I had a few thousand to drop on these sculptures for my imaginary mansion.   Most people in the gallery were huddled around Unicorns.  With a closer look, it was clear that the artistry went way beyond a little girl’s dabble in paper mache.  Smirk emerging…Check.

Almostouroboros

The opposite corner of the gallery showcased the work titled, Almostouroboros.  Because the artist was nice enough to provide an explanation, I entered my inspired artsy-fartsy thought process…well, kinda.  Davis explained, “Almostouroboros is an object that expresses the false notion of continuity by distorting an overused symbol in a way that denies its essence.  The figure of a snake is perched atop a blade-like base slicing the snake lengthwise and growing from it simultaneously.”  I do like it when there is some sort of explanation or statement posted.  This allows the viewer to get a peek inside the artist’s thought process, but each piece in this show stood independent.

Gold Slot

Lucky for me, Davis provided her website, www.lauraanndavis.com.  A visit to the website yielded more sculpture that I wish would have been at the show.  Only eight chosen pieces held it down at the Palmer Gallery.  Davis’ works from various mediums, as well as two blogs, are featured on her site.  I definitely recommend checking out http://www.myeightiesself.blogspot.com/ for fun.  She gathered old journal entries from the time she was 9 through 19 and posted the “embarrassing, revealing and intense writings and drawings” for the world to see and for herself to re-evaluate the emotional baggage in those pages.  Davis then made a sculpture in the shape of boulders to “express the physicality of the burden” found in the content.

Obelisk

Many of Davis’ sculptures consist of found objects, including costume jewelry, gemstones, handbag mesh, and other materials.  The sculpture, Obelisk, caught the light with its mesh coverlet, resembled a feminine rocket, getting ready for lift off.  In Davis’ artist statement she explains her exploration of a feminine aesthetic in New Work.  The work grows from an impulse to frame, which exemplifies that “form follows the function of presentation.”

A trip to The Palmer Gallery is definitely worth your time and after you take in the room’s crafted inhabitants, visit Davis’ website for more feminine formulas.