BIO & STATEMENT
laurieshapiroart@gmail.com
Biography
Laurie Shapiro (b. Mineola, NY, 1990) creates immersive dreamscapes based on interconnectivity and oneness with nature. She received her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University in 2012 and studied abroad at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, in 2011.
Various institutions, including the San Diego Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, Otherworld, Weedmaps, and Walter Studios, have commissioned Shapiro’s artwork. Her outdoor, public art installations have appeared at festivals around the country, including Life Is Beautiful (Las Vegas, 2021), Cali Vibes (Long Beach, 2022), the Governors Ball (NYC, 2022), Bloom Bash (San Diego, 2023) and the Three Rivers Arts Festival (Pittsburgh, 2023).
Shapiro recently had a two-level solo show at the Dyer Arts Center at NTID/RIT in Rochester, NY. Over the past decade, Shapiro has regularly exhibited solo and group exhibitions with galleries nationwide. She has completed artist residencies at the American Academy in Rome, the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, and the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles. Shapiro has also been awarded the Artists’ Fellowship Grant, the Puffin Foundation Grant, the Vibrant Cities Art Grant, and the Center for Cultural Innovation Grant. Her artwork is in public and private collections, including the San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Bilkent University, Otherworld, Walter Studios, and Weedmaps.
Photograph by April Staso
Statement
I am a visual artist whose work employs a layering technique that combines painting, screenprinting, sewing, and sculpture to create all-encompassing, visually-stimulative installations and individual pieces. The environments I create transport viewers into psychedelic womb-like environments: handcrafted, vibrant, and filled with patterns and colors that invite interaction and meditation. I was born with a condition that causes hearing loss as I age; making my experience of the outer world muted, while my inner world is amplified. These internal emotional experiences manifest as vibrant and captivating visuals, enveloping viewers in a realm of color and wonder. Paintings are particularly expressive with subjects often using exaggerated gestures to communicate. I primarily understand the world through visual stimuli and internal feelings; and this, in turn, colors all of my work. Central to my artistic practice is the use of screen-printed floral patterns and imagery—drawings of plants that “speak” to me. Heavily informed by my internal and spiritual experiences; my work urges viewers - in a time of climate devastation - to listen not through noise, but through feeling and intuition.