Chaotic Good: An Interview with Laura Laine
Laura Laine is a Finland-based artist whose spectral illustrations bridge the worlds of fashion, art, and the surreal. Her work has adorned the pages of Vogue, Elle, and The New York Times. But she didn’t always want to be an artist. Growing up both of her parents were artists who brought her up in an art making environment.
“Still, I remember quite consciously not wanting to become an artist like them, and I studied fashion design instead,” Laine says. “Somehow, I still ended up doing what I do, since eventually I just followed what I really felt passionate about. Growing up the word “artist” meant to me something extraordinary and something you’d have to have earned to call yourself, but nowadays I’m not too bothered about job titles.”
We caught up with Laine to investigate the ghostly and mythic inspirations behind her surreal illustrations and their impact on the fashion world.
Hi-Fructose (HF): Do you use references or pose models for your work?
Laura Laine (LL): Not always, but very often I start with a reference image. Mostly it’s a photo, but sometimes I use old sketches from croquis sessions. I think that croquis actually teaches you to remember a lot of things about the human anatomy surprisingly well by heart. I don’t follow my references closely at all, most of the time I use them for composition ideas.
HF: There is a surreal quality to your work that separates it from the runway influence. How do you think about form?
LL: I think about the image in terms of composition, form and texture, and what I can create with these elements. Sometimes the body seems like a totally secondary element in the image, almost like an excuse, even if the subject of the piece is a figure. I like distorting shapes and playing with the proportions of things. In my work the body and the form have an interplay, where the body always submits to the form, but has its own subtle influence on it. And all the while I like to maintain some sense of the real, as if everything I draw would be at least nearly possible in real life.
HF: How does the body impact your work?
LL: The body functions as an expressive tool to come to a specific result, that varies from piece to piece. I think very little in terms of aesthetics in a bodily sense. I remember years ago reading criticism that my work promotes an unhealthily thin body image, but if you really look at my characters, very little about them is realistic or even traditionally beautiful. I’m interested in manipulating the body to create a mood or a form, and creating strong characters—not nice-looking girls.
Growing up the word ‘artist’ meant to me something extraordinary and something you’d have to have earned to call yourself, but nowadays I’m not too bothered about job titles.”
HF: In your work, form has a ghostlike quality. Do you take inspiration from Tank Girl or Japanese ghost stories?
LL: Actually, both have had a big influence on me. I love the work of Junji Ito, and I used to read my big sister’s Tank Girl comics when I was a kid.
HF: Many of your works are in black and white, yet some include a pop of color. Could you talk about the use of color in your work?
LL: I used to work only in black and white. That was because my main interest was what I could create with lines, textures, and volume. And I felt that the use of color would entail too many problems to be solved. I had no relationship with color in my own work and didn’t really know how to use it. Lately I’ve been more and more interested in making works in ink and watercolor, and with that change of technique I’ve been using more color too, and it feels fun instead of problematic.
HF: Are you familiar with the fashion illustration of Antonio Lopez?
LL: Yes, sure—he’s one of the big ones. What I always admired most about his body of work is the incredible versatility and experimentation.
HF: How do you approach composition in your illustrations?
LL: I start with small fast sketches, especially if I’m trying something complicated or testing ideas. Sometimes I sketch only directly on the final paper. The sketches that I start working on are usually very rough, just a few lines and a ball for the head. For client work I’ve had to learn
to make nice looking informative sketches. I start usually with an idea of a composition or shape, sometimes with a piece of clothing, an outfit, or a character. Somehow, I’ve learned to see early on in the process if I’m going to struggle with a particular piece or not. It’s impossible to explain why sometimes it happens and sometimes not. The best, however, is when it feels like the work is creating itself, almost automatically, and I’m just observing. I work usually one area at a time, almost finishing it at one go, and then later going back and forth with final touches.
HF: How does your approach differ with client work?
LL: Client work is naturally a collaboration, so it’s much more restricted. I’ve always loved that aspect of working for clients, since I find restrictions inspiring—but only the ones where the client leaves the problem-solving to the artist, instead of solving it all themselves. In client work we go back and forth in the sketch phase, so I need to draw a good-looking sketch. Other than that, the rest of the process is pretty much the same.
HF: Have you paired and or collaborated with fashion designers to bring your work to cloth?
LL: Multiple times. For many years, I illustrated all the prints and patterns for my ex-boyfriend’s clothing brand Daniel Palillo, and have also collaborated with Gap, H&M, Zara, and Finnish brands Marimekko and Vimma, creating prints and patterns. It’s really interesting work, and ideally, I’m involved in the process even to the extent that I know about the material and size of the finished product and print. My line is so fine that I need to adjust it for screen printing, for example. I think the end results have always turned out really nice so far. I love seeing my work not just on paper.
This article first appeared as the Special Insert Section of Hi-Fructose Issue 65. Subscribe today to Hi-Fructose and get our latest issue as part of your new subscription here.
Source involved in this report: Read Original Article
