By Emily Wolfe Explore Big Sky Managing Editor
JACKSON, Wyo. – Big Sky resident Lorri Lagerbloom is one of 40
Montana artists attending the Western Design Conference Sept. 6-8 in
Jackson, Wyo.
A top exhibition and sale of museum-quality art, the conference brings
together artists, scholars, collectors, interior designers, architects,
fashion designers and the public in the spirit of Western art design.
Lagerbloom, 32, is attending as part of the Montana Artrepreneur
Program, which helps artists develop sustainable businesses.
“I describe myself as a sculptor
who builds paintings,” said
Lagerbloom, who studied
printmaking at SUNY New Paltz, in
New York State. Her experimental
processes involve two-dimensional
mixed media, she says. “I call them
paintings, but there is more fabric,
plaster, beeswax, papiermache, and
fencing material than paint. Really,
it’s more like a collage.” Originally from rural New York,
Lagerbloom has lived in Big Sky for
three years. She and her family
plan on sticking around, she said.
“I think it’s a great place for an
artist to live. There’s lots of
opportunity… and people in
general, are interested in the arts
and culture.”
While she currently carries side
jobs to pay the bills, Lagerbloom
says her goal is to work full time as
an artist. She plans to use the
conference to learn about art trade
shows as a way of selling art,
rather than strictly galleries.
While her work is non-traditional,
it’s not necessarily abstract, she
said, explaining that she uses recognizable Western themes.
“Having a lifelong adoration for the prairie landscape and the solace
created by open spaces, my work focuses on identifiably Western
subject matter, paying homage to the vast western plains,” she
declares in her artist statement.
This, she says, is “A land both abundant and sparse all at once, so
endless in its magnitude as to fool one into thinking there is ‘nothing’
there. Yet so rich and complex, a discerning eye will find endless
subtleties to connect with. A landscape that affirms greatness and
truth exist in the inconspicuous and overlooked details.”
Find more of Lagerbloom’s art at
lorrainelagerbloom.com
