Laurel Izard: Current Work

The Clay Studio presents "CURRENT WORK"' by Chicago artist Laurel Izard for the second show of its 1986-87 season. The exhibit runs from November 7th thru 29th. Ms. Izard's works are portraits, of about portraits done without figures.

Ms. Izard, a member of the Lill St. Gallery in Chicago, also is the owner/designer of her own jewelry manufacturing business. She received her MFA from the Universtey of Wisconsin-Madison and her BFA from Northern Illinois University. Ms. Izard has shown her work at numerous galleries including the Craftsmens Gallery, Baton Rouge, Louisanna; The Kwok Gallery, NYC; Center Gallery, Madison, Wisconsin; the Archie Bray Foundation, Helena, Montana; and at the Cite International des Arts, Paris, France. She has also lectured widely and has works in numerous collections across the country.

"I have chosen to work in terra cotta partially because of clay's architectural and archeological references, and partially because of its immediacy as a sculptural medium," says Ms. Izard. She adds, "Building with clay has allowed me much freedom to quickly build what shapes I want and then to experiment with all manner of carved surfaces and textures. These sculptures are quite small in order to bring the viewer closer into the work and thereby create some debree of intimacy with him or her."