no barking aRt
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“ The choice of one material has to do with one’s sensibility; ..the material you respond to becomes the extension of who you are.” ---Richard Serra ( in an interview with Charlie Rose, 14th Dec 2001)
The corners of the room had been altered by the smooth surface of round walls made of cardboards, the roundness of the surface extended to the ceiling of the room, if to give visitors a pair of skates or a skateboard, one’s imagination could easily be inspired to surf in this manmade cardboard sea. On the surface of these walls, a group of sculptures hovering on, because of the material of the sculpture is that of the wall, instead of clinging to the surface, these sculptures are more like grown out of the wall than hung. This ‘installation’ called ‘Birds’ not only because of the shapes of the sculptures but also the printed images. These are images of the birds printed on the cardboard surfaces in different languages. Laura Grimm used to dream when she was shopping in the oriental supermarkets, seeing these foreign characters printed on the cardboard boxes displayed in the shops, her imagination took flight with these images; travelling could be started with an inward journey, this exhibition ‘Birds’ is the end of that journey. For this solo show, Grimm has made a series of work by deconstructing these ‘bird-boxes’ into newfound freedom of these sculptures ‘Birds’.
The evolution of Laura Grimm as a sculptor might start at the moment the artist proceeds as one of the more unpleasant periods in her career as an artist, a transitional period from a designer to an artist; though as dismay as she might recall, the work made in that period named ‘Under-pressure’ is the key piece of work which speaks and clicks with the mind of a viewer who doesn’t yet familiar with Laura Grimm’s body of work.
‘Under-pressure’ speaks fluently the language of Grimm, a language originates from her background as a designer and an untameable female protagonist. This work shines the light of a designer who is not afraid of breaking the mould, taking risks and with the willingness to learn. While working with another sculptor at the time, Grimm took on the challenge of sculptures yet still remained in contact with the side of a fashion designer through applying soft materials against the backdrop of a piece of cold, reflective metal. By doing so, Grimm has bought herself a ticket to an inner seat with the sculptors before her such as Richard Serra whose freestanding steel sculpture has brought the history of sculptures to a whole new era. Like Serra, the use of a single unit (one piece of metal) has inspired this young talent to new ways of working with materials; this legacy of dealing with a single unit of the material has been reinterpreted into a following up development after this period. 
Under pressure
photos by Jan Arsenovic, taken during Living Pool 2.0 at Het Oostelijk Zwembad, Rotterdam aluminum plate (1.5 mm) | braided rope made of recycled clothing | PVC clamping profile 1.5m x 1.2m x 1.6m |
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The new development of Grimm’s practice is the use of cardboard box with the concept of handling a single unit of cardboard combining with pattern cutting skill learnt from fashion design. Cardboard boxes were scattered around her studio during the time when she made ‘ Under-pressure’; after that time, Grimm was eager to see where her art practice might lead to, so she started to play with the material to explore the potential of the cardboard sheets, Grimm cut into the surface but carefully maintained the piece unbroken to make it foldable which led to a now signature series named ‘Foldable’.
‘Under-pressure’ has prepared Grimm the potential and the capability of being a sculptor; it’s the leaping point which gave the birth of a child of art who has reincarnated from the fashion industry. We have witnessed how Grimm gels the elements of textile and pattern cutting of fashion design with the concept of dealing with a foldable single unit material into a new kind of sculpture which is made from the two-dimensional surface to its organic result of a three-dimensional form.
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Until her latest work, made for the Summer Exhibition, A World without End, forms are not the main concern of the artist; Grimm investigates the 2-D shapes before the forms come about; the form is a by-product of her 2D-pattern-approach. Her sculptural form is the 3D translation of the 2D thought process. In the work ‘Outcome Series (I, II and III)’ made for the exhibition A World Without End, Grimm reacts to the theme with a particular form in mind, a globe, which she has taken the reference on Dymaxion Map by Buckminster Fuller. Base on this historical context, Grimm reinterprets it to a series of outcomes that focus on the variation of one single form, a globe. This series gives a new direction for the artist to work, instead of endless possibilities of new forms which determined by the 2D pattern process, the form of a globe focuses Grimm to develop an unified body of work, with the help of resin colouring and transformative new texture (resin cured cardboard). By now, Grimm has cemented herself with the use of resin cardboard. ‘Foldable’ is a series of which Grimm defines her unique voice and exercises her knowledge with the material of cardboard. It is a celebration of the freedom in making of an artist, much like a poet finds the secret of the language and unleashes one’s thoughts into endless variations of hymns telling stories of things in life; the future of Grimm's practice is promisingly exciting.
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Outcome I, Outcome II, Outcome III
Cardboard, resin and ultramarine & green umber pigments; potential outcomes for future earth, based on Dymaxion Map by Buckminster Fuller. Laura Grimm takes on the challenges of briefs and collaborations by reacting and responding with her mastery of the materials. She seems to have the gift that most artists don't naturally have, answering to a brief. She has the advantage from her practice in the fashion industry, the ability to attack a brief from a sharp angle in a limited period of time which most artists might find it very counterintuitive. The ability to collaborate and work toward a brief has been the greatest gifts for Grimm as an artist which sets her apart from many contemporaries, for examples, her earliest work ‘Howling Pancakes’ and her most recent work for the exhibition A world without End; in both events, Grimm presented with new series of works to answer the brief in a short period of time.
The best examples of her talents in collaboration are the ones with artist Oscar Peters (with his rollercoaster The Savage and the group assemblage in W139 for its 40th anniversary, both are the cultural hubs in the heart of Netherland's contemporary art scene). In responding to the theme Rollercoaster of the exhibition, Grimm worked on the concept of Aerodynamics, the outcome was a bullet-car shaped sculpture made with her signature materials in burning red colour (racing car reference) which sat comfortably in the gigantic exhibition space, Electriciteitsfabriek / Electricity Factory in Den Haag. This large sculpture ‘Bolide’ was made of cardboard, bio epoxy resin, paper tape, and string; the material of resin fits in nicely in this industrial space. The use of resin is very proper for it is a key part of the composite materials, also the character of the material after it cured brings a touch of permanence to the compostable paper of a cardboard; it is this contrast between elements, the 2D and the 3D, the paper and the resin that gives the energy which constantly discombobulates, therefor keeping Grimm’s works refreshing. 
Bolide: a sculpture for Oscar Peters’s rollercoaster 'The Savage', part of Volta at the Electriciteitsfabriek in Den Haag. Bio epoxy resin, cardboard, paper tape and string.
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On another collaboration with Oscar Peters in a similar scale of the space, this time, Grimm not only developed two new works in response to the space and the theme but also designed a suspension system to hang other sculptors’s works in the show. One of her work called ‘Buoys’, which was made of a collection of foldable resin cardboards hung from the top of the tall ceiling to the floor by a handmade yellow rope as the umbilical cord bringing live to a new sculpture. The dialogue between her sculpture and the space not only made with the length of the sculpture but also the rope itself. The long handmade rope with a thick solid knot at the end before it touched down on the surface of the floor which had broken the word, ‘suspension’ of which the system was named. There are plenty of elements in this sculpture that intrigue your mind to wander with her wizardry of the material manipulation, such as the surface of the cardboard box which is now resin covered with a deep blue colour, the shine of the cured resin creates the illusion of metals, with letters punched on the cardboard mimicking the metal surface of a buoy; from a distance, one would mistake the cardboard for the industrial heavy metal.
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Suspender: on show during ampersands at W139, Amsterdam
suspension system for participating artist’s sculptures
rope hand knotted raw cotton dyed with curcuma | wall hooks sheet metal and pipes | pulleys bicycle wheels and metal (made in collaboration with Oscar Peters)
overview picture by Ernst van Deursen.
Grimm’s wizardry with the materials could also be seen in her earliest work, 'Howling Pancakes' which is a name that no one knows the meaning of it still to this day. As conceptual artists would do, she had a go with the ambiguous concept, the result was a giant sculpture made of hundreds of pancakes freestanding held up by an elongated rope. Grimm has given this short term residence a long-lasting memory with a feast of colours and the possibility of deliciousness and rotten. Taking on the materials of food and nature colouring was a reaction to her inner desire of wanting to change. Risk-taking is the core strength throughout her artistic career.
The sight of a dog in the gallery smells the sculpture made of pancakes reminds us, that Grimm's work possesses the magical ingredients the truth-tellers would gravitate to; as I know for very certain, dogs are the expert in identifying the goodness of things.
Howling Pancakes:
photos taken during Howling Pancakes at Showroom MAMA, Rotterdam;
flower, egg, milk, beets, spinach, blueberries, curry powder, rope and disposable plates
3.5 m x 25cm
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