Laura Santori Artwork Inspiration

Laura Santori, Good Bones, 2021. Oil on canvas. 18 x 24 inches. Laura Santori, Good Bones, 2021. Oil on canvas. 18 x 24 inches.

Inspiration for the painting Good Bones came from the poem “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith:

Good Bones

by Maggie Smith

Life is short, though I keep this from my children.
Life is short, and I’ve shortened mine
in a thousand delicious, ill-advised ways,
a thousand deliciously ill-advised ways
I’ll keep from my children. The world is at least
fifty percent terrible, and that’s a conservative
estimate, though I keep this from my children.
For every bird there is a stone thrown at a bird.
For every loved child, a child broken, bagged,
sunk in a lake. Life is short and the world
is at least half terrible, and for every kind
stranger, there is one who would break you,
though I keep this from my children. I am trying
to sell them the world. Any decent realtor,
walking you through a real shithole, chirps on
about good bones: This place could be beautiful,
right? You could make this place beautiful.

This poem originally appeared in Waxwing, Issue 10, in June 2016.

Laura Santori, Soma, 2019. Oil on canvas. 18 x 32 inches. Laura Santori, Soma, 2019. Oil on canvas. 18 x 32 inches.

Inspiration for the painting Soma came from the video game Soma. Watch the trailer here:

 

 


Laura Santori, The Dunes, 2020. Digital Print. 12.64 x 16.85 inches. Laura Santori, The Dunes, 2020. Digital Print. 12.64 x 16.85 inches.

Inspiration for The Dunes came from “Tatooine” by artist Philipp Merki

Philipp Merki, Tatooine, 2019. Philipp Merki, Tatooine, 2019.

Laura Santori, The Awakening, 2021. Oil on canvas. 18 x 24 inches. Laura Santori, The Awakening, 2021. Oil on canvas. 18 x 24 inches.

Inspiration for the painting The Awakening came from the sculpture “The Awakening” by J. Seward Johnson. 

J. Seward Johnson, The Awakening, 1980. J. Seward Johnson, The Awakening, 1980. Credit: Courtesy National Harbor