British-based artist Laura Ford studied at Bath Academy of Art between 1978 and 1982, and was included as an emergent artist in New Contemporaries 1982 before joining the postgraduate sculpture course at Chelsea School of Art in London. Ford's work is a blend of the ethereal, the carnivalesque, and the whimsical, with her sculptures often focussing on issues around gender and power, visibility and invisibility.
Ford's sculptures elicit complex responses and are full of wit, compassion and dark humanity. According to Dr Penelope Curtis, Ford's works 'provide us with acutely graphic renditions of human emotion, mental and physical. Her imagery is all about remembering and giving memory clarity'. Inspired by her childhood in the fairground and juxtaposed by her school years in a convent, Ford seeks to create similar tension in her work whilst critically exploring gender roles.
Her sculptures have been showcased in public and private collections both nationally and internationally. Hailing from Cardiff, in 2005 Ford represented Wales in the Venice Biennale where contemporary cultural and sociopolitical themes are explored through performance, sculpture and installations.
