ABOUT LAURA
Bio
Born into an artistic and musical family, Laura Shabazz was destined to ‘make things.’ Exploring the gamut of both visual and auditory media, from songwriting to traditional drawing and painting to ceramics to CAD, Laura’s creative endeavors had always occupied an essential but supplemental place in her life. This secondary role of creativity was brought to its painful nadir when cramped city living nearly eclipsed her artistic pursuits. After giving birth to their daughter, Laura and her musician husband, Shaheed, relocated to the ‘burbs. Their new location afforded Laura the space to explore collage through upcycling the discarded magazines and books that she salvages from recycling bins all over town. Juggling parenthood, the demands of teaching guitar and a part-time job, Laura creates her art in the precious moments when the household is (finally) asleep.
Artist Statement
For the original collages, I use only paper and glue. The paper is torn from magazines and old books that I salvage from recycling bins. I don’t use any paint, ink, or digital manipulation; even the different shades of the book pages are due to the natural yellowing of the pages. Most of the pieces of paper are torn by hand, and the larger collages use hundreds of tiny scraps. I get straight lines by using the edges of the paper, though occasionally I use scissors for precise shapes.
I’m drawn to crazy quilts for their use of color and pattern. For subject matter and composition, I look to pre-Raphaelite paintings. High contrast photography informs my value scheme of lights and darks.
Every collage starts with an assortment of reference images, a basic sketch and a general idea of colors. From there, since I never know what magazines I’m going to have as my palette, so I figure out color placement and detail in real time. The finished product that you see is really an improvisation that can’t be recreated even if I wanted to make the same thing again.
Education
Self-taught in collage and upcycled paper media
Parsons The New School for Design, AAS Interior Design, 2007 Dean’s List
Columbia University, BA Anthropology, 2004 Dean’s List
Montclair State University, Coursework in Fine Arts, 2000
Raritan Valley Community College, Coursework in Fine Arts, 1999
Oberlin College, Coursework in Fine Arts and Ceramics, 1995-1998
Ceramics Apprenticeships under Don Thieberger, Tom Phinney, Ellen Kelly
Assistant to jewelers Michael Alexander (incl. website design) and Sue Sachs
Shows
2021 Recycling, Sebastopol Center for the Arts, Sebastopl, CA
2020 Return to Love (invitational), Galerie Westerhoff, Metuchen, NJ,
Honorable Mention
2020 Solo Show, Shimon and Sara Birnbaum Jewish Community Center,
Bridgewater, NJ
2019 Mendham Rotary Antiques Show, Mendham, NJ
2019 Women in the Arts (invitational), Kennedy Martin Steele Farmstead,
Basking Ridge, NJ
2019 Farmstead Arts Members Show, Kennedy Martin Steele Farmstead,
Basking Ridge, NJ
2018 Memories & Dreams, Bridgewater Township Municipal Building,
Bridgewater, NJ
2018 ARTsee Group Exhibit, Somerset County Cultural & Heritage
Gallery, Somerville, NJ
2018 Hidden Gallery, Bernardsville, NJ
2017 ARTsee Open Studio Tour Bernardsville and Basking Ridge, NJ
2017 28th Annual Small Works Show (group show curated by
Dr. Gail Stavitsky, Chief Curator of the Montclair Art
Museum) Mikhail Zakin Gallery at the Art School at Old Church,
Demarest, NJ
2017 Recycle 2017 (group show curated by Harriet Taub, executive
director of Materials for the Arts) Brooklyn Waterfront Artists
Coalition, Brooklyn, NY
2017 Mothers' Day Invitational (craft show juried by Jewelers Studio
Guild), Chatham, NJ
2017 The Happening (group show), Bernardsville, NJ
2017 In Care of the White House (political art and letter campaign),
national, online
2016 More Than Art (solo fundraiser show for More Than Me in Liberia,
Africa, coordinated by Enactus of Raritan Valley Community
College), Bernardsville, NJ
2016 A Haunting at the Hive (group show) The Hive Gallery, Chester, NJ
2016 ARTsee Open Studio Tour Bernardsville and Basking Ridge, NJ
2016 Tiny Book Show national touring show with the Creativity Caravan
2015 Group Show Bernards Township Library, Basking Ridge, NJ
2014 Meet the Artists (1 of 5 artists) TMC Boutique, Stirling, NJ
2012 Everything Jersey City Jersey City, NJ
2012 Crafts on Grove Jersey City, NJ
2011 Arts at Hamilton Park Jersey City, NJ
Collections and Commissions
J Peter Bradley LLC, Basking Ridge, NJ
Just Cabinetry, Bernardsville, NJ
Advanced Health and Physical Therapy, Bernardsville, NJ
Corporate Art Commission, Carrier & Multi-Pak Offices, West Caldwell, NJ
Private Collection of actress Deanna Russo and actor Michael Cassady, LA, CA
“Wall of Flowers” Private Collection, Fort Myers, FL
Indiegogo campaign perk for “Unstuck Guitar,” online
Represented in private collections throughout the USA
Press - online and print
- Ann Brierly Bush, “Ripping Good,” New Jersey Monthly Magazine, December
2020
- Ann Martin, "Fine Art Collages from Upcycled Magazines and Books by Paper
Artist Laura Shabazz," All Things Paper, 5/29/18
- Janine Domingues Vasquez, "From Magazine Ads and Articles to Living
Art: Collage Artist Laura Shabazz Breathes New Life to Old Pages,"
Blog, 5/1/18
- Priscilla Frank, “People Are Sending Trump Art To Guarantee Their
Opinions Are Archived,” Huffington Post, Arts and Culture, 5/24/17
- “Atrium Gallery,” Morris Arts, May 2017
- “Recycle 2017,” Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, April 2017
- “Starbucks and RVCC team up for fundraising art show of Bernardsville
woman’s work,” nj.com, October 2016
- “Bernardsville art show to benefit ‘More Than Me’ foundation,” New
Jersey Hills Media Group, 10/24/16
Teaching
2020 Center for Contemporary Art, Kennedy Martin Steel Farmstead,
Clarence Dillon Library
2019 Center for Contemporary Art, Kennedy Martin Steel Farmstead,
Warren County Library, Bernards Township Library, Bernardsville
Library
2018 Artist Demo - ARTsee Happening event, Ross Farm, Basking Ridge, NJ
2014-19 Workshop Leader - various programs, Bernardsville Public Library,
Bernardsville, NJ
Film
2020 Born in Quarantine Featured Artist, Metuchen Arts Council,
Metuchen, NJ
Curatorial Projects
2015 - 2019 Altered Book Contest and Display, NJ Makers Day,
Bernardsville Public Library, Bernardsville, NJ
Panels
2017 Healing Through Art Panel Participant, Montclair, NJ
Professional Affiliations
2019 - current NJ Art Association
2017 - 2018 Studio Montclair
2016 - 2019 ARTsee
