Artist Statement
I make confrontational oil paintings. I am interested in liminality and how space can reflect our own inner world, focusing on the brevity that “ordinary” moments possess. I depict reality in an intensified manner, focusing on the spatial and psychological in-between moments. I am inspired by films both narratively and aesthetically while I explore themes of desire. I use my paintings to express my journey through the murky waters of human connection.
I work in a “grayish” muted color palette because I want the work to be a reflection of the spaces we live in. These captured spaces invite the viewer’s projection into the narrative. While the spaces depicted are ordinary it is through the emphasis of the moment that we can begin to reflect, as if we are in the space, confronting ourselves. Each painting acts as a window into these vulnerable, sometimes uncomfortable (suspended in time) moments, where the space and the people inhabiting it are intrinsically connected.
Bio
Laura Lucas was born in 2001 in Sydney, Australia. She is an American artist currently based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Laura creates atmospheric paintings exploring both the subconscious and conscious reality, and most importantly the areas in between. Laura graduated in 2023 with a BFA in painting from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Laura has received the Roderick Mackillop Art Merit Scholarship (2022-2023) and the Nila Kannan Arts Scholarship (2022). Her paintings have been exhibited in significant group exhibitions, such as in Goodyear Arts, where she completed a month-long residency in July 2023. Her work has been featured in Nova Literary-Arts Magazine and Atlantis Magazine. Laura is an instructor at Holt School of Fine Art. You can see more of her work on Instagram and Tik Tok:@lauralucasart.
CV
EDUCATION
The University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
Bachelor of Fine Arts
Concentration: Painting
Minor: Art History
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2022 “21”- October 2, 2022- October 28, 2022. Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery. Charlotte, NC
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2024 "60 Years/21 Conversations"- October-November. Rowe Galleries at UNC Charlotte, NC.
2023 “Disrupting the Matrix- Impressions”- December 2-March 30. Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art, Charlotte, NC.
2023 “4th Annual Open Call Exhibition”- Online. The In Art Gallery.
2023 “From Behind the Desk”- May 6- May 26. Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery. Charlotte, NC.
2023 “Eyes Wide Open” - Bachelor of Fine Arts Student Exhibition, Rowe Galleries at UNC Charlotte, NC
2023 “Nova Literary-Arts Magazine Issue 54 Art Exhibition”- March 4-March 24, Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery, Charlotte, NC.
2023 “Internal Powers, External Forces” - February 17- March 10. Goodyear Arts, Charlotte, NC
2022 Juried Student Exhibition. May 1, 2022- February 24, 2023. Career Center Art Gallery at UNCC
2022 Juried Student Exhibition Online - Online, UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
2021 Student Art Show- October 2-October 29. Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery, Charlotte, NC
2021 Novant Health Student Art Show- April 9- September 3. Novant Health SouthPark Family.
PUBLIC ART PROJECTS
2023 “Untitled”- Colvard Breezeway, Stairs, commissioned by UNC Charlotte, Budget- $30,000
2022 “Streams of Consciousness” - Atkins Library 2nd Floor, commissioned by the Atkins Library of UNC Charlotte, NC, Budget $3,500
DONATIONS
2024 "Vanitas" and "Apples" for the Night of the Arts, Southwest Regional Library Arts Collection Fundraiser.
PUBLICATIONS
2023 NOVA Literary-Arts Magazine Issue 54
2022 NOVA Literary- Arts Magazine, Nightmares with Nova
2021 Atlantis Magazine, Summer Issue
AWARDS AND SCHOLARSHIPS
2023 Area Award in Painting, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
2023 Chancellor’s List, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
2021-2023 Roderick MacKillop Memorial Art Merit Scholarship, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
2021- 2022 Nila Kannan Arts Scholarship, University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
PROFESSIONAL ART EXPERIENCE
September 2023- Present Instructor- Holt School of Fine Art
March 2023- June 2023 Elder Gallery Intern- Elder Gallery of Contemporary Art- Charlotte, NC
March 2022 - May 2023 Art Gallery Attendant- Popp Martin Student Union Art Gallery- Charlotte, NC
Sept 2022 - Nov 2022 Teaching Assistant/Preceptor- University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
June 2020 - July 2020 Assistant Teacher- Young Rembrandts Art School- Waxhaw, NC