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Laura Mahnke

Discipline:

Visual Artist, Curator, Ceramist

Location:

Hamburg

ABOUT:

I am a woman with a working-class/ non-academic background and I started studying fine arts in my late twenties being a mother of one. Everything I did before entering the academic art world shapes and enriches my curatorial and artistic practice: Motherhood, feminism, grass roots self-organization, punk, community building, crafts, improvisation and low-budget decadence.

As a curator who studies sculpture I have a deep interest in creating material as well as metaphysical spaces of encounter. I work site-specifically and like to do curatorial interventions to frame exhibitions with my own materiality.

In my artistic works I try to grasp, catch or get hold of affectivities and moods like anger, love or melancholy. I impulsively analyze phenomenons like longing (German: Sehnsucht) or desire.

Thinking in a scenographic way as a sculptor, I like creating on-site interpretations of narratives. Metaphorical materials as well as the way and the conditions under which a work is produced carry another layer of my work. Poetry or prose, either self-written or consumed through music and literature, often act as the cornerstones of my work.

Statement on image quality: the varying and sometimes poor quality of the documentation of my works is intended. I am critical of the high-res standard in art documentations just as I am not interested in producing polished artworks. I like dirt.

WORKS:

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'Working Class Creatives' responds to a need which is too often overlooked in the arts; that of the barriers facing working-class artists from getting on in our sector. They are instrumental in initiating much-needed change that will see the art world become more inclusive and reflect the society it purports to serve. I often search their database in my research, it is a vital resource for any arts professional working in culture today. That they have got this far on so little financial resource is remarkable and I am excited to see what they will achieve with further support.” Beth Hughes, Curator, Arts Council Collection.

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