Loring Cornish

A native of the Druid Hill Park neighborhood in Baltimore City, Loring Cornish's row home serves as both gallery to his artwork and a floor-to-ceiling, indoor and outdoor, work of art. Loring began transforming spaces and creating installations at an early age, after altering an old building given to him by his father during his college years, where he majored in mass communications. Also known as Van Freeman, Cornish worked a string of jobs, including deejay for a gospel radio station, actor, and TV game show contestant on The Price is Right, before devoting himself fully to making his art. Loring's artwork was first noticed after moving to Los Angeles in 1997 where he transformed his rental apartment into an environment of faith-inspired mosaics and wall pieces, made from discarded materials. Literally putting every cent into his artwork, Cornish created his pieces using copper pennies, mirrors, broken tiles, metals, and shards of glass. After being evicted by his landlord, he returned to Baltimore with only three sculptures in hand, later learning of his former L.A. rental home's new found artistic popularity through a newspaper article.

Cornish continues to constantly transform his current Baltimore home on Parkwood Avenue with new incarnations of his work, warmly welcoming people of all ages and backgrounds. Every inch of Loring's floors is embedded with colorful mirror and glass proclaiming words of welcome, peace, forgiveness and mercy. Everywhere, there is a positive word expressing a character trait he aspires to. A true believer in God, Loring gains his inspiration from perceiving a hidden spirit, a spark, in the everyday. Loring Cornish has chosen to lead a life unencumbered by a regular paycheck, relying wholly on the grace and bounty of God for all his needs–"That's my thing on Faith."

Links: To learn more about Loring Cornish, visit: http://www.loringcornish.com/