Laura Bailey

Memories tied to being in a car seem to be an almost universally relatable nostalgia. These works evolved from recalling car moments – with family, friends, and significant others. In contemplating these experiences, the car and its parts take on new meaning and become a vehicle for memory, and for remembering. In recalling missed loved ones, the car also becomes a symbolic means of transportation to the afterlife.

After growing up in a culture of pentecostal belief, my art practice is an intrinsic part of deconstructing that worldview; an attempt at creating new ways of living, remembering, and new rituals. Safe Travels recalls the Catholic charms of my grandmother, and the prayers for ‘travelling mercies’. Untitled (Jimmy #2) is linked to a specific memory of travelling in the car and tuning in to the CB radio.

The process of making these sculptural and textile works is a tactile and craft based practice, that is also a form of meditation and contemplation that breathes back into the work. My sculptural forms are intricate and idiosyncratic, using carefully considered ephemeral objects that have been assigned meaning and symbolism in a personal universe.