The seed for this body of work was planted many years ago. When travelling as a young adult, I was devastated by the sight of garbage being dumped off a passenger ship into the Mediterranean Sea.

It was tweaked by finding lost, forgotten, or abandoned items on hikes to remote locations.

It became compelling when I moved to ‘cottage country’ and began to amass a large assortment of found objects/garbage that I collected on walks, hikes, paddles, and camping trips.

The works are divided into five groupings: Earth Gifts, Transition, Contact, Outcomes and Keepers of the Earth.

With this body of work, I wanted to speak to:
1. How unique, special and worthy of respect our planet is.
2. Our carelessness and nearsighted behaviour.
3. The need to change.

Artist Statement

I am an observer; by using paint, mixed media, and constructs, I become a storyteller. Telling stories compels me to problem solve. Whether my mind wants to solve emotional or intellectual problems, or my hands want to solve construction puzzles, the need to problem solve drives my sensibilities, my thinking and my narrations.

When, what I am observing in the present, whether vulnerable members of society or fragile ecosystems, meshes with my past life experiences, I am motivated to devise artistic methods that can help me work through the angst that these overlaps bring to the fore, and tell the stories that I see and feel.

Where my past figurative work was created using visual layers to depict complex emotional stories, my earthscapes are physical layers that speak to our complex relationship with planet Earth.

My work with wax, my collection of found objects (discarded or forgotten) my father’s failing eyesight and my concern for our future, helped direct my path towards these dimensional constructs. In creating these works, I have photo-montaged, cut, pasted, and painted. I have created paper clay supports, sewn into painted canvas, reassembled pieces and found objects into new statements; layered, waxed, glued, and bolted. I anticipate that the materials chosen speak to intent. For example, ‘Earth Skin’ is fragile and references the flora that the Earth supports. It incorporates handmade paper and found bits of floral detritus embedded in bees wax.

The Elemental pieces are my most recent works. They speak to our need to stop riding roughshod over the planet and allow the ancient elements to re-establish Earth’s gifts.

Artist bio

Laurie was raised, predominantly, in Niagara Falls. After a parochial education bereft of art, as a young adult, she traveled extensively, seeing the world and participating in other cultures. Returning to Canada, O’Reilly received a BSc, from Guelph University, which gave her hands-on experience in form, function, physiology and ecology. A minor in Fine Art helped her develop some of her technical skills. Further experience has been gained and is always being added, through workshops, mentoring and residencies.

The Bancroft exhibition is Laurie’s fourth curated gallery show. She has also participated in juried shows, city sponsored exhibitions, local gallery exhibitions and studio tours. She has lectured on encaustic practices, run workshops and contributed to a U.S. juried art publication, gallery show and international on-line exhibition. A few of the many artists that she has drawn inspiration from include Ben Hecht (technique), Rauschenberg (fearlessness) and Leonardo Drew (boundless creativity).

Laurie presently lives near Haliburton On. in a home that she and her writer husband, David Skinner, designed and built. With her husband they run a summertime gallery, The Artspace, on Eagle Lake Road in West Guilford. You can view Laurie and David’s work here.