Lauran Sundin is a renowned artisan whose innovations on traditional bobbin lace-making techniques have garnered awards and exhibitions world-wide. Exciting opportunities have included: lecturing and teaching at the Metropolitan Museum in New York; presenting her work at the Rothschild’s Waddesdon Manor in England; exhibiting and teaching at the “World Lace Congress” in Bruges, Belgium. Her work has been seen in major trade publications including IOLI Bulletin, Powerline Magazine, Surface Design, and the prestigious German journal Textile Forum. Lauran and her husband divide their time between their two boats, a converted tug in Maine and a canal boat in England.
The pursuit to understand the naturalistic patterns of weaving took her around the world: to Guatemala, where she studied with indigenous Indians; to Japan to investigate Kumihumo braiding techniques; and to the University of Hawaii where she studied the intricacies of Asian textiles. Most recently the Artelier Moravia in Haarlev, Denmark, where she experimented with traditional and abstract bobbin lace.
A weaving and bobbin lace background has made her approach to jewelry design very different from that of most jewelers. Rather than cutting a shape from a piece of metal, she achieves the desired result thorough building up the form using individual wires and their ability to be structurally sound through twists and turns. The three dimensional creation of 14-22 Karat Gold and Sterling laced wires introduces sculptural qualities and considerations of shape, form, aesthetics, layering, joining, and shadow effects. In analyzing these new design options, Lauran has created original solutions and transported lace to places it has never been. Since so few people have tried what she is doing, she says the challenge of experimentation and solving problems has become part of the fun.