ARTS&LIFE
DESIGN

46 | SEPTEMBER 1 • 2022

us,” she said. “To achieve
this, I am artistically
exploring three major issues:
gender equality, racial
equality and healing the
environment. At the nexus
of these three issues, we find
women.
“It’s time for balance,”
added Earle. “Men need
to share the mic. Women
need to be able to speak for
themselves, be heard and
respected as equals.”

ART WITH A PURPOSE
January kicked off
Earle’s year of presenting
intensive, collaborative
art installations. She first
presented “Environmentally
Speaking,” along with
co-curators Leslie Sobel
and Olivia Guterson,
at the Janice Charach
Gallery inside the
Jewish Community
Center in West Bloomfield.
The exhibit addressed
climate change, and Earle
had several large-scale pieces
on display.
To further address climate
change, Hazon Detroit had
Earle create “Elements of
Life,” an interactive dance
and sculpture performance
for Tu b’Shevat presented
at the Berman Center for
the Performing Arts. Earle
incorporated the elements of
earth, wind, fire and water,
culminating the performance
at the “Tree of Life.”
“It was a lovely
experience of doing an
artistic expression of the
Jewish traditions — a
big celebration of the
environment and love of the
Earth. It was truly ‘tikkun
olam,’” Earle said.

continued from page 45

Craft in the
Digital Age

As her final participation with September’s Detroit Month of
Design, Earle will have three of her furniture designs on dis-
play at “Craft in the Digital Age” at Edsel and Eleanor Ford’s
historic lakeside estate in Grosse Pointe Shores. Craft in the
Digital Age features over 70 works from 35 Detroit-area artists
and designers throughout the main residence of Ford House.
“We chose Laura Earle’s pieces for their high-quality aesthetic, use of materials,
imagination as well as the fact that they were produced using new technology,” said
Andrea Bogart, founder of Embrace Creatives, whose company represents Laura
Earle and a few other artists featured in Craft in the Digital Age.
Earle has an MFA in Studio Arts with an emphasis in furniture design from Eastern
Michigan University. To create her three
pieces of furniture for the exhibition,
Earle used digital fabrication includ-
ing CAD, G-code generation, laser
cutting, CNC router cutting and
CNC plasma-cutting, along with
contemporary materials like
hydrophilic polymer.
“These pieces are at the
nexus of sculpture and func-
tion and leverage an inno-
vative use of materials and
technology,” Earle added.
As part of the Detroit
Month of Design, Craft in
the Digital Age marks a col-
laboration with Lawrence
Technological University’s
College of Architecture and Design,
Ford House and Design Core Detroit.

Laura Earle’s Permeable
Spaces Accent Table
will be featured in the
drawing room of Ford
House in Grosse Pointe
Shores, Sept. 1-30.

Laura Earle’s
Gabo Chair will
be featured in
Edsel Ford’s study
at Ford House
in Grosse Pointe
Shores, Sept. 1-30.

Laura Earle’s Torus
Felt Ottoman will
be featured in the
Main Hall of Ford
House in Grosse
Pointe Shores,
Sept. 1-30.

Where to See Craft
in the Digital Age
The event runs Sept. 1-30,
2022, and is open during
Ford House tour hours, noon-
4 p.m., Tuesdays-Sundays.
Admission to the exhibition
is included with a self-guided
house and grounds ticket
to Ford House, 1100 Lake
Shore Road in Grosse Pointe
Shores. To purchase tickets,
visit https://secure.fordhouse.
org/events.