Halley’s artwork explores the idea of balance and investigates the challenges of trying to strike balance in ones’ life within our society. Halley’s paintings resemble components of landscapes, often visually depicting mere moments of clarity and calm within a chaotic terrain allowing the viewer to relate to the idea of balance in both the physical and spiritual senses. The creation of Halley’s art is inextricably tied to music and the auditory sense. Her own knowledge of music is dissected and translated into her own visual language in an effort to symbolize the intricacies of striving for and achieving a sense of balance. This approach to creating allows Halley to make connections between music and visual art by interpreting the music from both a technical and intuitive standpoint. While visually inspired by many of the great Abstract Expressionists, Wassily Kandinsky’s “quest for the spiritual,” and Halley’s own practices in yoga and meditation conceptually drive the idea of finding and keeping equilibrium within different environments at the various stages of life. It is Halley’s hope that the viewers will be able to relate to this visual language she has developed to replicate various innerscapes (the landscape of the subconscious) and the journeys we embark upon through life’s demands.

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Laura Halley Hensley received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art and Design with an emphasis in drawing and painting from Iowa State University in 2003. She earned her Master of Education in Teaching Art from the University of Minnesota in 2006. Laura continues to take many graduate level studio art courses and participate in locally offered workshops and seminars. Halley’s art studio is out of her home where she resides in Minnetonka, MN with her husband, kids and their dog.

 

In addition to being committed as a life-long ‘creative professional,' Laura Halley Hensley is currently an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Education at the University of Minnesota Duluth, supervising Student Teachers across a variety of content areas, in grades K-12. She also writes curriculum for the K-12 art classroom, and is a former award-winning High School Art Teacher (of 16 years). You can find her on Twitter & Instagram: @Lhalleyhensley

View a short feature on Halley:

www.impactfolios.com/halleyl/media/LauraHalleyInterview.mov