About the Artist
Laura Wasserman is a fiber artist and autobiographical weaver based in the East Bay, CA, whose bold, abstract weavings and notably feminist compositions explore the power of fiber to both comfort and evoke. Her mixed media pieces are maximalist in nature, often use explosive color, experiment with found and recycled materials, and incorporate her own small-batch handspun yarns.
Intuitive Weaving • Weaving as Healing
Every weaving is telling a story—capturing an emotional landscape and marking a moment in time. Personal narratives highlighted in her work include loss, motherhood, the female experience, disability visibility, and mediations on family history. As an improvisational weaver, every layout and assortment of colors and fiber used is decided while a weaving is in progress. With formal degrees in creative writing, her weavings are entirely self-taught explorations.
10% of every sale is donated to nonprofits supporting human causes that do good, including the following:
East Bay SPCA • Planned Parenthood • Sierra Club • Greenpeace • World Wildlife Fund • Natural Resources Defense Council • American Civil Liberties Union
Hands at Work
Getting out of the way is my most important job. Letting my inner experience speak through the work; honoring heritage and traditions; voicing vulnerability.
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The idea that doing the work we love isn’t enough. After the 2016 U.S. Presidential election cycle, I took time to reflect on how my work could in turn be a form of activism — of protest — and offer actual benefits to the causes I care about. As an artist, I’m thrilled if a piece I create reaches the hands of another human and brings light to their heart or beauty to their home. But what if that work reaches beyond the home and affects change beyond you and me, and translates to the community? And what if this policy of donating part of every purchase in turn inspires other artists and makers and businesses and CEOs to contemplate how their work can give back to the globe — that is pretty radical.
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At this time, there’s no regular schedule for when new items are available and will be posted. Because each item is carefully made by hand, many hours of weaving and finishing goes into each piece. Generally, when new items are available, three to five listings will be posted at once and announced on my Instagram feed: @radcraftstudios.
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I do occasionally take commissions and custom orders. Please reach out for more information so we can create something you love.