Clean And Simple Charactures

The subjects of her art are dreamlike caricatures drawn with clean lines, sprinkled with a touch whimsy and a Japanese anime flair.

Chicago artist Laura George attaches simple themes to each of her drawings. The result is an image that conveys a singular thought and expresses that thought in a clever and upfront manner.

Nature vs. Industry: A Rising Artist's Canvas

Chicago Painter: Amanda Sears

TCG: Your pieces are all very different, but still have a certain cohesiveness. Is that on purpose?

AS: The building blocks of my work; lace-like patterns, typography, texture are always encouraging me to explore ideas in different ways, but I never really think about the "cohesiveness" of my work. I just paint whatever is currently inspiring me. I suppose I go through phases using certain patterns, colors, or techniques, but I rarely intentionally create them as a series.

TCG: Why are you drawn to the contrast between nature and industry?

AS: I love the raw, edgy feel of industrial design. It's slick and gritty, but there is something that inherently warns you to keep your distance. It can feel dangerous. Nature is this beautiful organic flow; warm, inviting, very alive, but it dies and there's something about decomposition that I find beautiful. I think of industry being this modern, steely, glamorous monster, but if it is not maintained nature will irrevocably take it over or break it down. I don't know if it is so much a contrast between the two that I try to express as much as it is allowing them to live together in a peaceful way.

TCG: How do you think your perception of your own work is different form your audience's perception?

AS: All anyone can ever be completely sure of is their own perception. All I know is where my inspiration might come from and how satisfied I am with the result of that expression. Once my process is finished, the viewer's begins and their perception is all that matters. I think a lot of the art world has lost sight of that and waits for other people to tell them what to think is important.