Laura Smekens
Photography MA
KASK School of Arts Ghent
Graduates: 2024
Specialisms: Photography / Film
My location: Brussels, Belgium
Laura Smekens
First Name: Laura
Last Name: Smekens
University / College: KASK School of Arts Ghent
Course / Program: Photography MA
Graduates: 2024
Specialisms: Photography / Film
My Location: Brussels, Belgium
About
Laura Smekens (°2000, Uccle) is a visual artist who grew up in Wallonia, Belgium. She’s interested in themes such as womanhood, nature and the subconscious mind. In her practice she loves to explore invisible aspects such as dreams and memories. She uses photography as a tool to make the invisible visible.Her main purpose within the medium photography is to make statements about her concerns for example violence against vulnerable groups in our society; especially women and the taboo around menstruation. The medium photography allows her to discover the different layers of herself as an individual and to reflect about her position as a woman in our society.
The Self(s) -— one’s, ours, anyone’s, Everyone’s is not right or wrong light or bright. The Self(s) raise in between. Our Self(s) appear in the most unpredicted places. Places that come and go as fast as the flash of the camera. And it is there, in between the dark and the light, where we can finally rest. L'(in)visible by Laura Smekens is a photographic exploration into the unperceivable hope of the mundane. Looking at the human unconscious mind as a landscape of hidden fragilities and emotions, Laura reintroduces our surroundings as fields of personal and collective healing; healing that is not an easy result but a perpetual process. Inspired by the grounding power of nature and her environment, l'(in)visible is an assemblage of photographs taken instinctively by the artist as self-portraits, revealing the layers of healing after trauma. Her creations evoke a need to rethink our shared spaces as zones of personal reflection and care; as places where the invisible power of our fragilities become a driving force towards a new self. Towards a self that embraces the process of the unknown. Towards a self that can be found in the flash between darkness and light. Text written by Ismini Kyritsis
Competitions
