Laura Laine – Nature Morte

Nature Morte features new works in various media by Laura Laine (b. 1983), presenting the wide-ranging career of one of Finland’s most renowned fashion illustrators. Laine has achieved worldwide acclaim not only as an illustrator but also as a glass artist. Her glass creations offer an intriguing glimpse of emerging fresh trends in international glass art.
Laine has worked for notable clients including Vogue Japan and other well-known fashion publications and cosmetics brands. She has exhibited her art in Tokyo, New York, London, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Helsinki.
The theme of her new glass sculptures and paintings on show at the Finnish Glass Museum is the vanitas genre and the golden age of Dutch and Flemish still life painting.
Laura Laine has been exploring the still life genre in her glass art for many years. Various still life motifs are identifiable in her slightly surrealistic, organic forms. Her seed pods, thistle thorns and frozen marine creatures are reminiscent of motifs found in 17th century still life paintings.
The theme of Laine’s latest glass sculptures and paintings is the vanitas genre and the golden age of Dutch and Flemish still life painting. The surfaces of her inanimate objects swarm with flies and snails. Frozen, already-vanished moments melt together with the ongoing decomposition of organic matter. Gradually, flesh and substance perish, revealing only bare bones. Sometimes the vanitas theme is only hinted at through subtle cues that challenge the viewer to reflect deeper, while at other times its presence is insistent and unmistakable.

The exhibition was produced with the support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.