About
Artist Statement
Laura Ribbons’ work explores our relationship with plants and the ways in which we connect and coexist with them in the context of the climate crisis, as well as how they alter our experience of place. Her practice asks what we can learn from other species and considers how we exist in symbiosis across human and non-human communities. Laura’s work celebrates the strength, resilience and mythology of plants, representing a desire to find solace and resolution in nature. Her practice constitutes a continued dialogue around ideas of survival, hope and well-being. Increasingly this is informed by her work as an artist facilitator. Working together with Towner Eastbourne (2022-2023) enabled Laura to co-create immersive, multi-faceted installations on a large scale in collaboration with a fellow artist and members of the public, exploring themes of sanctuary, fragile landscapes, place-making and the use of sustainable materials. This socially-engaged strand of her practice continues to influence the development of future projects, prompting the artist to work more consciously with repurposed and natural materials and expanding her notion of painting and drawing to encompass textiles, installations and ceramics.
Laura Ribbons’ work explores our relationship with plants and the ways in which we connect and coexist with them in the context of the climate crisis, as well as how they alter our experience of place. Her practice asks what we can learn from other species and considers how we exist in symbiosis across human and non-human communities. Laura’s work celebrates the strength, resilience and mythology of plants, representing a desire to find solace and resolution in nature. Her practice constitutes a continued dialogue around ideas of survival, hope and well-being. Increasingly this is informed by her work as an artist facilitator. Working together with Towner Eastbourne (2022-2023) enabled Laura to co-create immersive, multi-faceted installations on a large scale in collaboration with a fellow artist and members of the public, exploring themes of sanctuary, fragile landscapes, place-making and the use of sustainable materials. This socially-engaged strand of her practice continues to influence the development of future projects, prompting the artist to work more consciously with repurposed and natural materials and expanding her notion of painting and drawing to encompass textiles, installations and ceramics.
More Urban Trees, (detail), 2023.
Laura with her painting The New Landscape, now part of a private collection, September 2021.
Bio
Laura Ribbons (b.1990) is an artist, curator, facilitator and environmentalist. She graduated from Wimbledon College of Art in 2012 with a BA honours degree in Fine Art (Painting), she also holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Anthropology from the University of Kent, 2016. She has exhibited across the UK and internationally, including in Spain, where she lived from 2018-2019. She has a number of works in private collections.
As a curator and socially-engaged practitioner, Laura is inspired by the idea that art has the power to start difficult conversations, while simultaneously bringing people together and creating space for collaborative working and creative problem solving. Laura has worked with institutions including Towner Eastbourne, Pallant House Gallery and Watts Gallery-Artist Village. She has upcoming solo exhibitions at Trebah Botanic Gardens in Cornwall (October 2024) and Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (September 2025-January 2026).
Laura lives and works in Hastings with her husband children’s book author and illustrator, Jon Lander.
Laura Ribbons (b.1990) is an artist, curator, facilitator and environmentalist. She graduated from Wimbledon College of Art in 2012 with a BA honours degree in Fine Art (Painting), she also holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Anthropology from the University of Kent, 2016. She has exhibited across the UK and internationally, including in Spain, where she lived from 2018-2019. She has a number of works in private collections.
As a curator and socially-engaged practitioner, Laura is inspired by the idea that art has the power to start difficult conversations, while simultaneously bringing people together and creating space for collaborative working and creative problem solving. Laura has worked with institutions including Towner Eastbourne, Pallant House Gallery and Watts Gallery-Artist Village. She has upcoming solo exhibitions at Trebah Botanic Gardens in Cornwall (October 2024) and Hastings Museum and Art Gallery (September 2025-January 2026).
Laura lives and works in Hastings with her husband children’s book author and illustrator, Jon Lander.