L A Noble

Laura Noble is a working class, queer, socially engaged, multidisciplinary artist.

Her practice includes painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, photography, film, multimedia & performance as well as working as a curator, writer, educator & feminist.

Originally from Manchester & now based in London, her work is informed by her mixed heritage (British, Turkish, Somalian).

NEWS

HAND SIGNALS exhibition at Garage Gallery London

Save the date!

14 - 17 September 2023

This 3-Hander exhibition curated by Laura Noble with works by Gabrielle Brooks, Ellie Curtis & Laura Noble explores the original digital arts! Get ready to gesticulate with enthusiasm as you experience a colourful array of finger flexing in the form of painting, sculpture, film, photography, printmaking, appliqué, collage & drawing.

DYNAMO exhibition at Lakeside Centre, London

I am delighted that the Anamnesis Unbroken (Au) Many Hands film is to be exhibited in DYNAMO a group photography exhibition curated by Naroa Pérez at Lakeside Affordable Darkroom, at the Lakeside Centre this April.

“WHY DYNAMO? This is what this programme is all about and its central event is an exhibition & a panel discussion with the 8 exhibiting artists.

A dynamo requires very little power to start and progressively produces an enormous quantity of unstoppable energy. UNSTOPPABLE

A dynamo is a vector of transformation that converts mechanical energy to electric energy. TRANSFORMATION VECTOR

A dynamo moves and generates energy due to the interplay of electric and magnetic fields, which is reliable, cost effective, and efficient. INTERACTIVE ENERGY

This embodies Lakeside Darkroom.”

A video tour of the exhibition Anamnesis Unbroken (Au) in London 2023 now on YouTube.

Please like & subscribe for regular updates on my artistic practice. This tour of the exhibition is without sound. For more detailed information on specific works please see the other short videos on YouTube & images on this site.

Event: IWD - Au

Artist’s Talk followed by drinks reception.

Wed 8 March 6.00pm - 8.00pm Venue: Espacio Gallery

To celebrate International Womens Day & Women’s History Month you are invited to join me for an informal artist’s talk & tour of the exhibition followed by a drinks reception.

Anamnesis Unbroken (Au) - Espacio Gallery

Exhibition: 1 - 12 March 2023

Espacio Gallery, 159 Bethnal Green Road, London, E2 7DG

Anamnesis Unbroken (Au) by Laura Noble harnesses memories and reminders of trauma, which she then transforms into hypnotic artworks. Fusing still life and abstraction - using personal past and present narratives - she disempowers and fractures the most difficult subjects to turn negatives into positives.

Formally on the surface Noble's works appear to be traditional modernist abstractions. This is not the case. They in fact reveal themselves in layers from pattern making to still life she challenges the notion of what is women's art.

Textile art has long been made by women yet so often interpreted derisively as 'decorative arts'. Noble's work is not textile art in her compositions may imply. They are instead, an aesthetic that is suggestive of textiles. Her visual language intentionally obscures the narrative. Hiding the meanings of her subjects in the folds of her drawings which are crushed by the artist shortly after rendering serve several purposes. Her creations do not serve as a trigger to past trauma. They present her method of processing it.

Exploring her own altered identity as a child and often mistaken ethnicity (elements of which were necessary for her own safety), she reveals the most intimate personal histories. Through a technique that she developed during lockdown Noble does this without fear to allow her to be completely open and honest with no subject off limits. 

Her techniques present a non-linear concept of time, memory and philosophy. Her belief that "We hold all innate memory. However, our brain does things to protect us as well as make room for new memories. In order to access this, we just have to 'unforget' it. Investigating the Platonic theory of anamnesis has been a constant pivotal space in which she operates. “I can channel my work into the darkest spaces of the psyche without fear and release my demons one at a time. We all have them, but few acknowledge or face them. From s very young age I decided to face mine using art.”

Noble begins by drawing the elements that represent an event or memory. This often takes the form of multiple objects directly present or connected to the event. As she draws, she focuses on the memory in as much detail as possible to infuse her emotions through the line as she renders it on paper. It is then crushed and becomes a distorted still life object from which she can then create. Through painting, collage, printmaking, sculpture, photography and film Noble’s works are embedded and infused with these narratives.

Double sided photographs of crushed drawings are again crushed to manifest sculptural forms to accentuate the circular nature of trauma and memory from 2D (drawings) to 3D (crushed drawings), to 2D (photograph of crushed drawing) and back again to 3D (crushed photograph of the crushed drawing). Each dimension transcends to another. Housed in bell jars, they are accented on tears and creases with 22carrot gold leaf. This nod to the Japanese practice of visible mending with gold called kintsugi, points to the precious nature of our inner worlds as well as Sylvia Plath's novel. Imperfections are celebrated yet not fully revealed. They are released and contained at the same time.

Unwrapping the meaning of 'Anamnesis Unbroken (Au)' is itself a visible mending for the artist and viewer. Audiences are invited to participate by drawing things they wish to process and begin to let go of and heal from, before crushing and throwing their drawing into a semi-circle arena in front of the film projection. These works form an audience mirroring the film through action, sound and process.

The catharsis of the action is extremely important and continues right up to the end point of the finished work and beyond through audience participation and interaction.

The work was made during an artist residency with the drawing shed alongside dialogues with women at the studio who live on the estate in Walthamstow where the residency is located. Workshops with vulnerable women and children to learn this technique with drawing and collage have also been conducted in order to share the method further afield. The accessible nature of the technique is inclusive and easy to share with friends and family. Noble’s hope for Anamnesis Unbroken (Au) is to share it far and wide to encourage many more people to begin to process trauma.

Anamnesis

Unbroken

(Au)

anamnesis
/ˌanəmˈniːsɪs/

noun
1.recollection, especially of a supposed previous existence.
2. a patient's account of their medical history.

In Plato's theory of epistemology, anamnesis (/ˌænæmˈniːsɪs/; Ancient Greek: ἀνάμνησις) is the recollection of innate knowledge acquired before birth, the claim that learning consists of rediscovering knowledge from within. Plato develops the theory of Anamnesis in his dialogues Meno, Phaedo, and Phaedrus.

Au: Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au

Kintsugi: to join with gold

The 15th-Century Japanese practice of kintsugi, meaning “to join with gold”, is a reminder to stay optimistic when things fall apart & to celebrate & accept the flaws and missteps of life.

Find out more about the project at: 

www.lanoble.art  

Instagram: @lanobleartist

#Anamnesis_Unbroken_Au

Supported using public funding by Arts Council England

SAN London Event: Trauma Conscious Social Art Practices
Friday 3 March: Espacio Gallery

Time: 2pm - 4pm

Venue: Espacio Gallery 159 Bethnal Green Road London E2 7DG

A MeetUp hosted by SAN London with artist Laura Noble during her exhibition Anamnesis Unbroken (Au) at Espacio Gallery, London.

SAN London invites artists to a supportive practice led discussion led by the work of artists whose practices focus on co-producing responses and experiences of trauma in diverse ways, and through radical, imaginative and transformational ‘processing’. At a time of climate crisis, human rights violations and structural inequalities, social practice artists’ relationship with trauma conscious practices are developing new form out of these collaborative exchanges.

Facilitated by Dr Sally Labern artist-director of the drawing shed / member of SAN’s Caretaker Group & SAN London : artists Laura Noble, Ignacio Acosta and Ellie Laycock will enable an exploration of trauma conscious practices through short presentations as the lens of their work. Plenty of space will be made for discussion between attendees and the artists.

Artist in residence at The Drawing Shed: E17

Artist in Residence: The Drawing Shed (TDS) 2022 - 2023

From October 2022 Laura will be the Artist in Residence at The Drawing Shed working on a project Anamnesis Unbroken: Au

TDS is a contemporary arts organisation established in 2009. LockUpNumber11 is the space used as a studio located on a housing estate in London E17.

Photo London 2022

Stand D21

Somerset House

Strand, London WC2R 1LA

Preview Wednesday 11 May
Open Thursday 12 - Sunday 15 May
Stand D21 Discovery & Embankment
MAP / Website

Presenting an environmental, historical, and psychological sense of place through personal and poetic investigation, exploring a diverse range of interactions in real and imagined spaces.
I will be showing a selection of works from the series Cabinet of Curiosities

Exhibition - Gaslighting

2021

Socially Engaged Art Salon (SEAS)

BMECP 10/A Fleet St. Brighton BN1 4ZE

Exhibition: VIEW HERE