Laura Ford


Laura Ford is a British sculptor.

Work

Growing up in a travelling fairground family, Ford attended Stonar School in Wiltshire. Studying at Bath Academy of Art, whilst spending a term at the Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. She was invited to take part in the annual New Contemporaries at Institute of Contemporary Arts. Ford has lived and worked in London since 1982 since studying at Chelsea School of Art.
Ford is identified with the New British Sculpture movement from her participation in the 1983 survey exhibition The Sculpture Show at Serpentine Gallery and The Hayward, as well as participating in British Art Show 5 in 2000.
Marcello Spinelli wrote "Ford’s creatures are faithful representations of fantasy and, at times, a nightmarish imagination. With their bitter-sweet, menacing and endearing qualities, her stuffed animals and dolls appeal to childhood memories and inhabit a world we immediately recognize as somewhat familiar."
Her work is represented in many public collections including; Tate, The Victoria and Albert Museum, Government Art Collection, Potteries Museum, National Museums and Gallery of Wales; Museum of Modern Art, University of Iowa; Arts Council of Great Britain; Contemporary Art Society; Unilever; Penguin Books; Oldham Art Gallery, The New Art Gallery Walsall, The Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, The Meijier Gardens, Grand Rapids USA and The Gateway Foundation, St. Louis.
She has exhibited widely including; Solo, "2012 Days of Judgment", Kulturzentrum Englische Kirche und Galerie Scheffel, Bad Homburg and The New Art Centre, Roche Court, UK, 2011 Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, Grand Rapids, MI, USA, 2007, "Rag and Bone", Turner Contemporary, Margate, 2006 "Armour Boys", Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh, 2004, "Wreckers", Beaconsfield, London, 2003, Ford "Headthinkers", Houldsworth Gallery, Cork Street. 2002, "The Great Indoors", Salamanca Centre of Contemporary Art, Spain, 1998, Camden Arts Centre, London Group 2011 with Magdalena Abakanowicz, at the Industriemuseum Westfälisches Landesmuseum, Bocholt, Germany, 2005, Venice Biennale for Wales, 2004 "Into My World: Recent British Sculpture", Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Connecticut, USA, with Matt Franks, Roger Hiorns, James Ireland, Jim Lambie, and Mike Nelson.

Academic career

Between 1983–1995 Ford was a lecturer at Chelsea School of Art, Senior Lecturer at Middlesex University, also teaching extensively at most London art schools.

Public commissions


Personal life

Ford lives and works in Camden alongside her husband, the sculptor Andrew Sabin, and their three children.