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DOMESTIC RADIUS
Laura Holland Thursday, June 5, through Saturday, June 28, 2025 OPENING RECEPTION: Thursday, June 5, 5–7:00 ART FORUM ON ZOOM Thursday, June 19, at 7:30 pm (Click to register) |
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Laura Holland, Left: The Burnt Pan, accordion book; Right: The Lost Sock, accordion book
DOMESTIC RADIUS
Photography & Artist Books by Laura Holland
With photography and artist books, Laura Holland works inside the sweep of a DOMESTIC RADIUS—a physical and emotional space that circles close to her heart and home. Her subject matter includes a discarded bicycle, wooden matchsticks, over-abundant azalea blossoms, and a missing sock. But an elegiac undercurrent connects the objects she examines, the memories they arouse, and the sense of loss they evoke. The bicycle is abandoned by the side of the road when its owner dies; the azaleas burst into bloom only to be dashed to the ground overnight by wind and rain; the sock that disappears leaves behind a solitary mate.
“Just as there is unexpected beauty in a broken bicycle or a burnt frying pan, there are also some extraordinary stories in supposedly ordinary objects,” Holland says. “The sock may seem all pink and yellow playfulness, but it is simultaneously a symbol of loss—and resilience.”
One section of the exhibit displays the LIBRARY of LOST POSSIBILITIES, a collection of more than 20 tiny Coptic-bound books. “I ‘harvested’ posters for events I knew I would not attend (wrong place; wrong time; or just not interested), and cut, folded, reconfigured, and stitched together those posters into small hand-bound books sized to fit in my palm,” she says. “The books mourn things I did not do but at the same time celebrate possibilities left unpursued.”
Photography & Artist Books by Laura Holland
With photography and artist books, Laura Holland works inside the sweep of a DOMESTIC RADIUS—a physical and emotional space that circles close to her heart and home. Her subject matter includes a discarded bicycle, wooden matchsticks, over-abundant azalea blossoms, and a missing sock. But an elegiac undercurrent connects the objects she examines, the memories they arouse, and the sense of loss they evoke. The bicycle is abandoned by the side of the road when its owner dies; the azaleas burst into bloom only to be dashed to the ground overnight by wind and rain; the sock that disappears leaves behind a solitary mate.
“Just as there is unexpected beauty in a broken bicycle or a burnt frying pan, there are also some extraordinary stories in supposedly ordinary objects,” Holland says. “The sock may seem all pink and yellow playfulness, but it is simultaneously a symbol of loss—and resilience.”
One section of the exhibit displays the LIBRARY of LOST POSSIBILITIES, a collection of more than 20 tiny Coptic-bound books. “I ‘harvested’ posters for events I knew I would not attend (wrong place; wrong time; or just not interested), and cut, folded, reconfigured, and stitched together those posters into small hand-bound books sized to fit in my palm,” she says. “The books mourn things I did not do but at the same time celebrate possibilities left unpursued.”
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Laura Holland, Ode to Rain Series: Left: Rain on Roof; Right: Thunderstorm
ART FORUM ONLINE
In an Art Forum online on June 19, Holland will be joined by guest speaker Robbie Moll, professor emeritus of computer science at University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose short fiction and nonfiction pieces have appeared in the Funny Times, Defenestration magazine, and Colorado History magazine. He is the husband of recently deceased Valley artist Rachel Folsom.
This Art for Community program is supported in part by grants from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Pelham Cultural Council, local agencies, which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Preregister at by clicking here.
In an Art Forum online on June 19, Holland will be joined by guest speaker Robbie Moll, professor emeritus of computer science at University of Massachusetts Amherst, whose short fiction and nonfiction pieces have appeared in the Funny Times, Defenestration magazine, and Colorado History magazine. He is the husband of recently deceased Valley artist Rachel Folsom.
This Art for Community program is supported in part by grants from the Amherst Cultural Council and the Pelham Cultural Council, local agencies, which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency. Preregister at by clicking here.
