About the Owner

Laura Gravenstine is a visual artist, life caster & mold maker. She received her BFA in both Painting & Sculpture in 2008. Gravenstine Studio was founded that same year. Since then, Laura has been hired for numerous private commissions, custom commercial art pieces and has worked as a life casting consultant to several prominent emerging, mid-career, and established installation artists and sculptors. In addition, she has worked in a variety of fields where life casting has been invaluable, such as with cosmetic surgery clientele, pet casting, museum/artifact conservation & architectural restoration!

Laura has created custom art works for Vogue US, Tiffany & Co., Victoria's Secret, Waldorf Astoria NY, Barney's NY as well as designers such as Christian Louboutin, Chloe & Lanvin/Elbaz. She has also created props & life casts for several Broadway & Off-Broadway plays, including "Angels in America", "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" & "A Behanding in Spokane".

In addition to her 3D commercial work, Laura is a visual artist & loves to create pieces that are organic in theme and medium. When not creating, she spends time in nature, rides tandem on an eboard with her partner, travels, cooks, reads and ponder the philosophical realms.

She is fully dedicated to the pursuance of art and all of the richness that it offers to the global and local communities as a mode for expressive, healing & innovative communication, beauty & contemplation.

How I Began...

People often ask me how I came to create this type of art work. Here is how.. while I was studying art back in university, my sculpture class had an assignment to choose an artist from a slide show we'd just been shown, & create a sculpture using the same techniques & materials of that particular artist. Out of the 20 different artists, I chose the artist George Segal.

I created a life cast torso in the classical style, & immediately fell in love with the art form. I found that when I cast someone, it captured not only the minute skin details of the individual, but that it also captured what they were feeling at that exact moment in their life. I thought it was utterly splendid!

In 2008, after studying life casting for two and a half years with two different artists & mold makers from Florence, Italy, I started Gravenstine Studio. At the time I had no concept of how many avenues there were for life casting to be utilized in the world beyond art! Even now, 15 years later, I'm still surprised & delighted by the joy, awe & genuine utility it provides.

I'm happy & pleased to still be making art with you all.. !

Laura Gravenstine - Artist & Owner