Laura Ortman (White Mountain Apache, born in Whiteriver, Arizona, United States; lives in Brooklyn, New York, United States) intertwines music, performance, and visual art to evoke the multiple identities and emotions that she harbours. Ortman, a violinist, takes inspiration from Indigenous musical traditions to compose “sound sculptures” in which her instrument—its strings, the wood, and other parts—are as important as the sounds produced. Her often collaborative projects intermingle physicality and abstraction, urban environment and nature, the traditional and the contemporary.

Born

Whiteriver, Arizona, United States

Countries / Nations

White Mountain Apache, United States

Lives

Brooklyn, New York, United States