Laura Ford – 2018

Laura Ford is an English artist born in 1961. Her passion for art took her to Bath Academy of Art and later the Cooper Union School of Art in New York, where teachers include Michael Pennie, Richard Deacon, Nick Pope, Anthony Gormley, Peter Randall-Page, Shelagh Cluett and Anish Kapoor. At 23 she began a postgraduate sculpture course at Chelsea School of Art in London. Ford’s work has been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions, including the Venice Biennale, and is part of the collections at the Tate, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Meijer Gardens, together with other contemporary art museums and a number of private collections. Her sculptures are full of fantasy, not to mention the occasional touch of affectionate cynicism. Ford uses her art to tackle social and political issues through the prism of humour and her own observations of the human condition. Her works are considered yet playful, created using a range of techniques including sculpture, drawing, painting, performance art and set design. When it comes to choosing materials, Ford fluctuates between the power of bronze or ceramic and the fluidity of fabric. The sculpture on show at Château de Vullierens represents six giant cats standing on their hind legs. This bronze feline army is part of her “Days of Judgment” series and is installed on the south terrace, offering an opportunity to contemplate our memories, somewhere between reality and imagination.