Artist Statement Lori Brethour Coulter

I engage in art to explore the duality of human experience, looking at themes of longing and loss, strength and fragility, loneliness and inclusivity. My work is a bow to women's creativity that has historically been neglected, delegated to a booth at the country fair.

The work considers the interplay between disparate objects that form both my palette and aesthetic. Materials include handmade paper castings, Japanese papers, bones, sewing notions, old photos, constructed boats, bottles and textiles along with artifacts from both nature and home. I present what has been discarded or hand made in a new light, giving voice to hidden histories.

Works delve into the shifting shades of memory, mining the past to inform the present. Titles act as an entranceway into each individual work. I am drawn to ambiguity in all art forms as it gives more scope for thought and contemplation. There is never one direct message or dialogue in my individual works but rather an interconnectedness between all the work; something akin to a long rambling visual journal.

My need is to create through my hands, nourish others through their eyes and have this voice carried through my work.

Note: All works are framed which are integral to the finished works. I tend to use old frames which I then build a box like structure onto the back to create a shadowbox in order to create depth to house the sculptural nature of my work.