Lara Fields

Artist Statement

Lara Fields works in stained glass specifically because it's not supposed to move.

Stained glass carries centuries of association with permanence, architecture, solemnity. Glass doesn't bend. Lead came creates fixed structure. The medium resists motion by its very nature. She makes it move anyway.

Drawing from her background in surrealist landscape painting, she creates abstract compositions that demand the material do something it wasn't designed for: express fluidity, capture energy, hold a moment mid-motion. A wave cresting. A whale breaching. An octopus mid-reach. Her work uses the inherent properties of glass—texture, translucency, how light fragments through color—to create pieces that feel kinetic rather than fixed.

Influenced by post-impressionist color theory and modern abstraction, she treats light as a partner in the work, designing pieces that respond to changing conditions rather than requiring backlight to come alive. The technical precision of copper foil and lead came construction becomes the framework within which flowing forms and unexpected color relationships can exist.

Self-taught in stained glass but trained in drawing, painting, and sculpture, she brings a painterly sensibility to a medium often defined by its architectural function.

Based on California's Central Coast, she works primarily in original compositions, with select commissions that align with her artistic practice.