biography Born in Canada, Laura Wait grew up in Boulder, Colorado. She studied art history in New York, and received a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University, 1975. Laura also studied lithography and drawing at Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles. She went to London for a printmaking course at Croydon College of Art in 1976 and stayed for five years. Since 1981, the artist has lived out west. Laura lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico. She is married with one son, one dog, two cats, and grows a lot of vegetables.artist statementWord forms as image are the primary focus of my art. I use words as marks and symbols, using layers to form history and depth of imagery. Aesthetics of marks are of more importance than reading the text. The words I use are often totally illegible, relying on our intuitive connection with symbols. Influences include medieval illuminated manuscripts, Asian calligraphy and modern graffiti. My marks are universal, somewhat random, and often related to music, with layers of writing acting as layers of melody and rhythm. For the past few years I have been interested in the diversity and rhythms of energy in music and wave motions especially with a connection to elemental forms such as electricity and magnetism. My calligraphic marks are now distilled into simple shapes derived from letterforms and are sometimes related to mathematical symbols, which describe wave energy. Letterforms from both Western and Eastern systems are incorporated, creating polyrhythmic flow of mark making.