Laurel McKay

About me:

I grew up in Westhaven, California, among the wild redwoods and craggy coastline of Humboldt County. Raised by activists within an environmental counterculture, my outlook and experiences are different from most, which provides me with a unique vision for my artwork.

I am an intersectional feminist, environmentalist, and artist by passion. In my free time, I scour the Northern California coast looking for agates, check out the newest reads at the library, and fight to make the world a bit better for the next generation. I also have two cats and a big ginger dog named Gus at home, where I love to garden and watch movies.

I received my BFA degree from Cal Poly Humboldt (then called Humboldt State) in 2016, with an emphasis on printmaking and silversmithing. I received my MFA degree from Montana State University in 2021, where I graduated with honors.

I had the fantastic opportunity to teach printmaking at Montana State for two years, before deciding to move back to the coast for an opportunity to teach at Cal Poly Humboldt. I’m not currently teaching printmaking, but I have been so excited to work with a local environmental non-profit that supports our community.

About my work:

My work and practice as an artist is currently centered on two main areas.

First, on grief and loss, incorporating research into cultural mourning practices, and long-term effects of compounded loss. My intention is for these works to create space for us to process our own personal losses of identity - as a daughter, cousin, or partner - and how the loss of a person's physical presence in the world impacts us, along with the way we choose to exist after heartbreak.

The second focus of my work explores how personal identity is expressed in a fluid and ever-changing manner, incorporating research into intersectional feminism and queer theory. These monoprints investigate the abstraction of bodies as a way to free people from the visual constraints and societal markers of “difference” or “otherness” relating to class, gender, sexuality, and race, categorizations often used to marginalize individuals and separate society.

I must add that I do not want in any way to remove people's individual experiences and identity through these abstractions, however, narrow and rigid categories of socially approved identities support hierarchies that are based in capitalism, colonization, and systemic oppression, all of which I ultimately think should be dismantled.

Abstraction of the human form allows for endless possibilities of shifting identity, and individual freedom of expression, undefined by labels constructed by others. The abstract body becomes a site of resistance, and purposeful defiance to the controls or "disciplines" placed upon one’s own existence through bio-political or state structures. These works of art allow room for contemplation on the structures, expectations, and invisible manipulations that influence how we form and embody our identities, while still imparting feeling and emotion of being tethered to a shared human existence.

My intent is for my mono prints to represent a future full of endless fluid human possibilities, and a utopian universe built upon a shared human experience.  I have a fascination with occult and voodoo symbology, which is often incorporated as a dictionary of personal narrative and symbolic language within my artwork.

If you're interested in seeing more of my work and my latest shenanigans, please check out my Instagram @kittencthulu or sign up for my email list.