ARTIST IN FOCUS

AMY LASKIN | CAPTURING THE ESSENCE OF NATURE

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Amy Laskin
Capturing the Essence of Nature

We have almost weekly conversations, Amy and I. Often it seems that I catch her just as she is making her weekly run back from the town after collecting her groceries and such.

And often there is a storm or a mudslide that has hindered her route, but Amy is rugged.

You would not know it from her work. The delicate brushwork that defies logic, the smooth silk finishes, the wispy feathers, blossoming flowers and corals, and the foliage, oh the foliage.

She draws you in to her world and you can almost smell the rainfall and hear the parrot from his perch as you look out over her paradise found.

We sat down for a convo recently, remotely, and had a delightful earful of her life and work. Here I share my conversation with Amy, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Can you tell us a bit about your Can you tell us a bit about your background and journey as an background and journey as an artist? What led you to pursue art, artist? What led you to pursue art, and how has your personal history and how has your personal history influenced your creative path? influenced your creative path?

My mother was an artistic soul. She studied to be an actor but became pregnant at the same time she got called back to read for a soap opera. Right then and there, her career was nipped in the bud.

She was a product of her generation and chose to forgo her career to raise her children. When she realized I had creative urges and artistic leanings, she enrolled me at The Philadelphia Museum of Art for extracurricular classes.

That was the beginning. After classes, I used to roam the museum looking at all the great art. At the time, the museum had 250,000 works of art, and I started observing the greats from age seven.

This education continued all through my childhood until I went away to college. My aspirations were cemented from that time. I knew without question that I wanted to become an artist.

My undergraduate college major was art (specifically ceramic sculpture), and I continued immediately upon graduation to receive my master’s degree.

Your artwork demonstrates a Your artwork demonstrates a unique technique and style. Could unique technique and style. Could you elaborate on your creative you elaborate on your creative process and the mediums you process and the mediums you prefer to work with? prefer to work with?

 I am attracted to very smooth, almost silky surfaces, and I go to great lengths before I even start painting to ensure the substrate is smooth enough.

I build up many layers, possibly ten or so, of gesso on a substrate and sand down every layer before I apply the paint. I usually use oil paint, sometimes acrylic, but I also slowly build up many layers with thin translucent colors and glazes.

How do you approach the blank How do you approach the blank canvas or page, and what inspires canvas or page, and what inspires your artistic choices? your artistic choices?

I approach the blank canvas in many different ways. There have been times when the shape of the canvas alone sparked an idea. There have been times when I built models and photographed them, working between the two.

A color or a particular plant can spark an idea, as well as the texture and shape of a mountain range. I am fascinated by lace, feathers, flowers, unusual clouds, and grey skies. I like vintage clothing, fashion trends, and dresses in general.

I love capes, scarves, Elizabethan collars, fans, ruffs, corsets, vines, tropical and exotic plants, undulating hills, and mountain ranges. I love beaded purses, costumes, and exotic decorative butterflies and beetles. I archive images I find on the internet.

My compositions are really a conglomeration of the things that fascinate me. I often make visual relationships from unrelated forms.

Amy Laskin, Disguised, 2015, Oil on linen, 30” x 60”

An example would be a woman’s torso and a vase of flowers. For my landscape paintings, I paint what I see as I try to control illusion, describe the atmosphere, and impart the magical mystical sensations I feel as I observe.

Art often serves as a reflection of the artist’s inner world and the artist’s inner world and emotions. Are there any intimate emotions. Are there any intimate reasons or personal experiences reasons or personal experiences that drive your work?

I’ve always been creative and an outside-the-box thinker. I have been looking at all kinds of art since childhood.

Art is just part of my world.

How do you infuse your emotions How do you infuse your emotions and experiences into your art, and and experiences into your art, and what messages or themes do you what messages or themes do you aim to convey to your audiences?

I’d like to be a healer. I try to use the technical skills I’ve honed to make my mythical world believable. But imparting that “magic” into a work is where the art comes in.

That is the difficult and intangible part we all want to experience as viewers and execute as artists. I don’t know if I make it happen… But I hope so!

Every artist faces challenges and fears throughout their career. fears throughout their career. Could you share any fears or Could you share any fears or doubts you’ve encountered on your doubts you’ve encountered on your artistic journey?

My biggest fear has always been how to juggle experimental studio time and the pursuit of a unique voice in my work with my ability to make a living.

How do you overcome these How do you overcome these obstacles, and do they influence obstacles, and do they influence the direction of your work or the direction of your work or creative decisions?

I have learned over the years that you cannot second-guess the public. So as long as I am creating from my heart and trying to fulfill the need to express my artistic voice, it somehow works out in the end. I have learned to persevere.

Lastly, what are your dreams and Lastly, what are your dreams and aspirations as an artist? Where do aspirations as an artist? Where do you envision your artistic journey you envision your artistic journey taking you in the future, and what taking you in the future, and what legacy do you hope to leave behind through your artwork?

My dream is to impart my vision to a wider collective. I want humankind to recognize our connectivity to Mother Nature and respect our earth. I want audiences far and wide to feel the magic of the universe through my art.

I can picture Amy up there in the mountains each time I look at her work. After she sent me a photo of her painting on her porch, I understood, she literally paints her backyard.

It is after all what is closest at hand, and to her heart and what gives her most peace and joy, which she chooses every day to share with us, through her work.

And that is the artist’s way.

Thank you, Daniella Sforza

Director of Exhibition

“May the interconnectedness of humankind with the wonderment and mysteriousness of the natural world be abundantly clear.” — Amy Laskin

Amy Laskin, Rooted in her Story, 2017, Oil on linen, 14″x17″

All about Amy Laskin

Amy Laskin, Coral Incognita, 2017, Oil on linen, 20” x 60

Originally from Philadelphia, Amy Laskin found her artistic calling amidst the tranquil landscapes of rural Jamaica, where she established her studio. Her journey began after earning her MFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and spending a decade immersed in the vibrant metropolis.

Laskin’s art is renowned for its captivating portrayal of the Blue Mountains of Jamaica, depicted in rich, mysterious landscapes. Her works showcase native flora transformed into ethereal female figures, enveloped in lush floral blooms meticulously rendered in oils on linen.

With a prolific exhibition history both locally and internationally, Laskin is represented by esteemed galleries in Boston our very own OMSA Gallery here in Fort Lauderdale.

Her talent has been recognized with a solo museum exhibition at the Berman Museum of Art in Collegeville, PA, and inclusion in The National Gallery of Jamaica’s permanent collection.

Laskin’s art graces the walls of many private and corporate collections across the United States and abroad, serving as a testament to her unique vision and profound connection to the natural world.

Amy Laskin, Statice, 2014, Oil on linen, 14” x 17”