Conversations with Laura Ellstrom

Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Ellstrom

Hi Laura, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Art has always been the one constant in my life; my family moved frequently in my formative years, and a desire to escape my turbulent reality led me to explore and create alternative worlds. As a then-undiagnosed neurodivergent child who was constantly the new kid – whose otherness felt like a costume they could not take off – it only made sense that I was drawn to fantasy media. I dreamed of places where to be strange was the norm. When my teenage years brought new battlegrounds both inside and outside of my home (and mind), my art became a way for me to process emotions I was unable to otherwise. There’s a quote that says “all art is self-portraiture” and I find that certainly rings true for me, as all my creations reflect different versions of me at different points in time.

You could say the catalyst for my art career was my family’s move from southern Ohio to Colorado in 2007. It was at my new high school that I was introduced to several wonderful teachers who supported and fostered my creativity and independence in the arts. This gave me the confidence to pursue new means of expression through photography and painting, and to continue to hone my skills at the college level. It was during this time that I illustrated my first book, Reddy Freddy, and became a member of NEXT Gallery in Denver; being immersed in the city’s art community and having a dedicated space to show my work was invaluable. Even after parting ways with NEXT, I continued to participate in exhibitions across Denver and beyond over the following years.

My life took a drastic turn in 2017 when my liver landed me in the hospital for eight days. I left with a lifelong autoimmune diagnosis and joined the ranks of the chronically ill. When the Covid pandemic hit several years later, my high-risk status kept me extremely isolated. Despite feeling creatively bereft for most of 2020, the time spent in solitude became an opportunity to learn/advance skills such as embroidery, printmaking, watercolors, and trying my hand at several murals – one of the things about having ADHD is that I’m always looking for different ways to express myself! To keep the season of change going, in 2021 my husband and I picked up our life to start anew here in Columbus, where we currently live with our four cats. I’ve been lucky enough to create some of my favorite pieces of art over these past couple years, including a mobile mural for Urban Scrawl in Franklinton last year that just recently sold at a silent auction. In September, I’m looking forward to creating my first public mural at 934 Gallery!

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I can’t imagine anyone answers yes to this! I am no exception in this case.

There have been many, many times where I have considered quitting art – and life – over the years. Depression and anxiety are something I have dealt with since childhood and while those can occasionally be an inspiration for subject matter, they unfortunately gifted me with heavy insecurities that bled into every aspect of my life. Growing up in the age of tumblr and instagram and deviantart, I had instant access to modern masters and artists of incredible skill – how could I ever catch up? At times I felt surrounded by monuments to my ineptitude.

Imposter syndrome was a constant companion long before the term had entered the modern lexicon, but an abusive relationship in my late teens left me struggling for the next decade to believe any positive words about myself. My deteriorating mental health – including ADHD-related obstacles that I was unaware of at the time – combined with financial difficulties led to my departure from higher education without completing my BFA. This was something I felt intense shame over for a long time, but after a few years of therapy I can now look back at those years and recognize that I did my best at the time to survive.

My physical health also regularly presents challenges. I have multiple autoimmune diseases, including a connective tissue disorder that can sometimes leave me with debilitating pain. Some days there is unfortunately too much discomfort to make art, or the fatigue is too overwhelming, and so I’ve had to find patience for my body’s limitations. This means you probably won’t see me at art festivals and conventions (places that are also quite overstimulating for me). Despite these things, I’ve never lost my creative spark! If anything, I feel more than ever the importance of exercising the gifts we are given in whatever time we have on this earth.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I have always been a daydreamer (much to my teachers’ dismay): my overactive mind likes to creates visual homonyms, linking disparate subjects in sometimes surprising ways. This same overactive nature also leads to my interest in working with many different media types; I don’t know that I could ever choose just one single form of self-expression. We all contain hidden worlds within ourselves that become unlocked with various combinations of materials, inspirations, and emotions. What I seek at the end of a pencil, I may not find through the stroke of a brush or from behind a lens. Just as my interests exist in multitudes, so does my style. Thematically, subjects like psychology, sexuality, perception, feminism, disability, and the duality of dark and light are weaved into my work. I primarily create portraits with an otherworldly feel, and draw heavily from influences like vintage fairytales, movies, nature, and my own daydreams. A phrase I’ve heard used to describe my art more than once is “cute and creepy”; while I used to lament that this meant I wasn’t a “serious” artist, I have come to accept that that’s not a standard that I need to hold myself to! My ability to straddle whimsical illustration and fine art is an asset, not a detractor.

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
If you had asked me this question a number of years ago, I would have said 100% of my successes have been a matter of luck. A conversation with a dear friend last year over this exact subject changed my perspective on that. Because I couldn’t see my own value as a person, I just assumed that everyone in my life was there by chance and NOT because they wanted to be there. I couldn’t see my own merit and skill as a factor in any of the opportunities I’d had. That being said, an incredible amount of those opportunities came from someone in my life thinking of me and sending them my way, but I did still have to then act on them (which frequently didn’t happen due to lack of confidence and an intense fear of failure). As I get older, I try to be incredibly intentional and authentic with the friendships I keep and so I think the real luck comes into play with the fact that I’ve been lucky enough to cross paths with so many wonderful people over the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lauraellstrom.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauraellstrom
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtofLauraEllstrom