Lauren Hurlburt (b. 1971) grew up in the hills of Cornish, New Hampshire. Encouraged by her family to create before she could even write, her childhood was filled with paint and brushes, scraps and stolen scissors. Even from a young age, she found satisfaction in repurposing what would otherwise be discarded and turning it into something beautiful. Hurlburt attended Monserrat College of Art in Beverly, Massachusetts, studying painting and art history. There she found inspiration in Paul Klee’s surprising and unusual color choices, Georgia O’Keeffe’s bold hues and biomorphic shapes, and Gustav Klimt’s metallic quilts.
Hurlburt’s work centers around modern interpretations of traditional quilt motifs, painted on oak panels. Her life-long appreciation of quilts began with a crazy quilt she received as a baby, its riotous shapes and colors a constant companion, imprinting on her perception until it finally disintegrated two decades later. In 2019, she began exploring geometric configurations, beginning with a series of smaller compositions made with a punch-needle on linen. In pursuit of more challenging patterns, Hurlburt moved on to painting her own renditions of heirloom quilt blocks. These meticulous paintings begin with the grid, building their exacting shapes out from the center. The palette is where intuition takes over, reveling in the unpredictable, allowing colors to discover their “twin,” a partner that will oblige it to bend and find its shape. Colors seem to find their own way into each piece, allowing for unanticipated combinations to blossom. The result pulls the viewer in with its kaleidoscopic charm, dazzle and delight.
