Laura Grimm (she/her) is a Rotterdam based sculptor. The forms of her sculptures are deliberately mysterious but the materials remain traceable and direct. Raw materials and processing methods of objects in our daily lives are often invisible. Due to her background in textiles, where basic fibres were key, Grimm has a strong connection with these types of invisible processes. That is why she makes her sculptures from raw materials such as wool directly from sheep in Rotterdam. She attends the shearing after which she washes the wool in her studio, cards it and colors it with dye baths of flowers and plants. These hand-prepared materials are full of energy, love and attention, all of which end up in her sculptures.
Laura Grimm lives and works in Rotterdam. Alongside three other artists she set up her own studio in Hillegersberg and now uses the large former garage of this building as her work space.
Gift Receiver, 2023 - exhibition view - sculpture created for and shown during W139 hosts... in Amsterdam (NL) - materials are wet felted white, grey and black wool from sheep in Rotterdam, natural dyes (blue woad, orange madder, yellow weld), willow branches and construction site boulders - size is 2.8m x 2.1m x 1.65m - this exhibition took place from 2023.09.23 – 2023.10.29
Gift Receiver, 2023 - detail shot - wool covered willow branch and construction site boulder, picture taken from inside the sculpture (left) and wet felted white and grey wool with a needle felted fibre drawing of wool dyed with orange madder (right).
Gift in Motion, 2024 - Gift in Motion was a three week collaborative project between the Chabot Museum, the Sint Michaël School, the Prins Alexander School and myself. I set up a studio in both schools, which are each affiliated to the Chabot Museum due to their proximity to the land of Chabot, the place where Henk Chabot lived and worked in his lifetime. During these three weeks students of the school witnessed and participated in my making process, from carding and dyeing to the final artworks: three wet felted wallhangings with needle felted fibre drawings. Materials are wet felted white, grey and black wool from sheep in Rotterdam and natural dyes (blue woad, orange madder, yellow weld, pink cochanille, brown chestnuts, green ferns and purple sweetgum bark) - sizes are 1.60m x 90cm - this project took place from 2024.02.26 – 2024.03.15.
Works will shortly be displayed in the Chabot Museum, the Sint Michaëlschool and the Prins Alexander school.
Photo by Jacqueline Fuijkschot.
Gift in Motion, 2024 - detail shot - closeup of wallhanging with needle felted fibre drawing of blue woad, orange madder, yellow weld, brown chestnut and green fern (left), overview picture of one of three felted wallhangings (right).
inner bloom (sculpture for the Wielewaal and its people), 2022 - exhibition view - sculpture created for and shown in Growing Space Wielewaal, Rotterdam (NL) - materials are cardboard, raw cotton (dyed using blue indigo), organic textile hardener, handmade rope (cheese cloth dyed with pink cochenille) and egg tempera (Turkish brown umber) - size is 3.20m x 2.10m x 1.20m - this exhibition took place from 2022.08.19 – 2022.08.31
inner bloom (sculpture for the Wielewaal and its people), 2022 - detail shot - photo of raw cotton dyed with blue indigo and formed with organic textile hardener, hand knotted rope dyed with pink cochenille.
Secret Growing, 2022 - exhibition view - one of three sculptures presented during Wild Summer of Art (2022.08.06 – 2022.09.04) at Brutus in Rotterdam (NL). Materials are screenprinted cardboard, handmade pigmented inks (chalk blue light and dark) and handmade rope (indigo and alpaca wool). Size is 2.10m x 1.40m x 40cm.
Secret Growing, 2022 - exhibition view - one of three sculptures presented during CROMOFORO (2022.02.12 – 2022.03.05) at Kunstplatform de Apotheek in Amsterdam (NL). Materials are screenprinted cardboard, handmade pigmented inks (chalk blue dark and burnt sienna) and handmade rope (indigo and alpaca wool). Size is 2.30m x 1.60m x 35cm.
Support System, 2019 - exhibition view - Support System was created for and shown during Ampersands (2019.11.22 - 2020.01.12) at W139 in Amsterdam (NL) - all sculptures in the space were suspended from yellow ropes - materials are hand knotted rope (raw cotton dyed with curcuma) wall hooks (sheet metal and pipes) and pulleys (bicycle wheels and metal) - exhibiting artists are Marcel van den Berg, Jacob Dwyer, Esther de Graaf, Laura Grimm, Simon Wald-Lasowski, Axel Linderholm, Margarita Osipian, Oscar Peters, Sam Samiee, Charlott Weise, Philip Vermeulen amongst others - photo by Ernst van Deursen
Support System, 2019 - detail shot - hand knotted rope made of raw cotton and dyed with yellow curcuma plus wall hooks made of sheet metal and steel pipe (left) and pulleys made of bicycle wheels and sheet metal (right)
