Bio

Laura J. Lawson is an interdisciplinary artist who connects the humanities to interstellar exploration using maps and environmental data to subvert traditional landscape art. She is a graduate of Austin College (BA) and The University of Memphis (MFA). She was awarded a residency at the Centre d’Art Marnay Art Center in Marnay-sur-Seine, France, and was selected for the first cohort of studio artists at the Cedars Union art incubator in Dallas. Her work has been shown in Vignette Art Fair, New Texas Talent XXVII, the Amarillo Museum of Art Biennial, and in international juried exhibitions. Her TEDx talk at Austin College stressed the importance of better standards for time and space to do creative work. Lawson worked with the Lunar and Planetary Institute to foster interdisciplinary collaboration at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference through a series of art and science workshops.

Statement

In my work, I look deeply into the environment of a world and try to tell its stories from its data. I read scientific publications and appreciate their unbiased observations, but I want to satisfy that human need for storytelling by translating what I learn into a visual experience.

I draw and paint with meticulous detail to make entire planets feel like part of a precious collection. I use translucent materials for substrates as a connection to the human pursuit of discovery: allowing light to pass through and reflect upon the painted landscape illuminates what knowledge we have of these places. Where data is missing, I fill in with other cultural associations, using color and texture to evoke various mythologies and science fiction. By using both sides of the substrate, and adding additional layered pieces, I can expose the hidden layers of planets and moons that make them so unique.

Curriculum Vitae

Education
2016 MFA, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN
2010 BA, Austin College, Sherman, TX
2009 L’Institut Catholique de Paris, Paris, France

Solo Exhibitions
2023 Jovian Resonance at Ro2 Art, Dallas, TX
2022 Venus and Mars: Climates in Dialogue, The MAC, Dallas, TX
Lands Beyond Earth, Gallery 2960 at The Epic, Grand Prairie, TX
2021 Solar Siblings, Dallas Public Library (Oak Lawn), Dallas, TX
2017 Elements of Place, Dennis Gallery, Austin College, Sherman, TX
2016 Dépaysement, The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art, Memphis, TN
2015 Navigator, Box Gallery, Memphis, TN
2014 Specimen, Eclectic Eye, Memphis, TN
2010 Somatic Erratic, Daniel Ross Gallery, Austin College, Sherman, TX

Selected Group Exhibitions
2024 Transmissions, Canopy Austin, Austin, TX
Helios, Dallas College Cedar Valley Gallery, Lancaster, TX
Eclipse, Ro2 Art, Dallas, TX
Five by Seven, Booker T. Washington Visual Arts Fundraiser, 2508 Sylvan, Dallas, TX
2023 Burning Woman, Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas, TX
CHAOS 9, Ro2 Art, Dallas, TX
Presence, The MAC, Dallas, TX
Mark Making: Celebrating the Art of Storytelling, Pencil on Paper Gallery, Dallas, TX
Faculty and Student Exhibition, Cedar Valley Gallery, Lancaster, TX
Valdosta National: Change of Weather, Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery, Valdosta, GA
7 from 707, 2508 Sylvan, Dallas, TX
2022 Fooling Ourselves, The MAC, Dallas, TX
CHAOS8!, Ro2 Art, Dallas, TX
Refuge, The MAC, Dallas, TX
To Infinity and Beyond!, Friend of a Friend Gallery, Denver, CO
Даллас, curated by Dr. Margarita Kuleva, Carillon Gallery, Fort Worth, TX
2021 Act Like You Like Each Other, Umbrella Gallery, Dallas, TX
The Other Art Fair, Dallas Market Hall, Dallas, TX
AMoA Biennial 600: Justice-Equality-Race-Identity, Amarillo Museum of Art, Amarillo, TX
Whereabouts, Gallery S14, The Cedars Union, Dallas, TX
Together, The MAC, Dallas, TX
2020 Online Faculty Exhibition, Tarrant County College Southeast, Arlington, TX
Lone Star Art Show, Texas Discovery Gardens Gallery, Dallas, TX
New Texas Talent XXVII, Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, TX
Art Faculty Exhibition, Tarrant County College Southeast, Arlington, TX
2019 HYPERLOCAL, The MAC, Dallas, TX
First Come First Serve, Fort Works Art, Fort Worth, TX
Power, CICA Museum, Gimpo, Korea
Assembly, 22nd Annual Members Show, The MAC, Dallas, TX
KAABOO Texas Music Festival and Art Fair, Arlington, TX
Vignette Art Fair, juried by Leslie Moody Castro, The Women’s Museum, Fair Park, Dallas, TX
COLOR, juried by Jennifer Klos, Maddrey PLLC, Dallas, TX
2018 Art and Digital Design Faculty Exhibition, Cedar Valley College Educational Gallery, Lancaster, TX
Discovery/Invention, Gilliam Collegiate High School, Dallas, TX
Blue, The Gallery 8680, Frisco, TX
Hot & Sweaty, 500X, Dallas, TX
Florescence, Blue House Too, Allen, TX
First Come First Serve, Fort Works Art, Fort Worth, TX
2017 Paper Works, Fort Works Art, Fort Worth, TX
Ghost Town Arts Collective 10th Anniversary Exhibition, Sherman, TX
34th Annual Juried Student Exhibition, juried by Umar Rashid, AMUM, Memphis, TN
2016 Epoché, Box Gallery, Memphis, TN
VISIONAIRRE / ASSEMBLÉ, CAMAC, Marnay-sur-Seine, France
Planet Nine: Displacement, curated by Eric Clausen, Marshall Arts, Memphis, TN
In Form, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, TN
The 33rd Annual Juried Student Exhibition, juried by Michael Aurbach, The Fogelman Galleries of
Contemporary Art, Memphis, TN
2015 We Tried, Earnestine & Hazel’s, Memphis, TN
Plaster Down the Sink, Crosstown Arts, Memphis, TN
2014 Best of Memphis Juried Exhibition, juried by Tad Lauritzen Wright, Box Gallery, Memphis, TN
2013 4th Annual People’s Choice Exhibit, Allen Depot Museum, Allen, TX
Hocus Pocus, The Flatiron, Chicago, IL
2012 New Chicago Artists, Per Populus, Chicago, IL
2011 Cheap, Fun, Sexy, Ghost Town Arts, Sherman, TX
2010 Small on the Wall, Artplace Gallery, Denison, TX
Lucky Number Eleven, Ghost Town Arts, Sherman, TX
Untitled by Anonymous, Johnson Gallery, Sherman, TX

Residencies and Juried Programs
2018 The Cedars Union studio artist, Dallas, TX
2016 Centre d’Art Marnay Art Center (CAMAC) artist in residence, Marnay-sur-Seine, France

Publications, Workshops and Artist Talks
2024 CU Lecture: Best Practices with Laura J. Lawson, The Cedars Union
Solar Eclipse viewing event and workshop, The Cedars Union
Eclipse Talk: Safe Viewing Strategies, Ro2 Art Gallery
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2024, Art + Science workshop
2023 Artist talk for Jovian Resonance, Ro2 Art Gallery
Lunar and Planetary Science Conference 2023, Art + Science workshop
2022 Mozaik E-Zine No 2: Ecosystem X, July 22
Don’t Drink the Paint Water Podcast, Episode 12
2021 TEDxAustinCollege speaker, Time and Space: Arts’ Most Valuable Resources
Bruce Murray Space Image Library, The Planetary Society
2019 Cedars Open Studios presents Cedars Sessions, artist talk with Riley Holloway and Kristina Smith
The Cedars Union, Finding Your Comfort Zone as an Artist panel discussion
2017 Austin College, A Night of Fine Art and Fine Wine artist talk
Austin College, panel discussion with Classical and Modern Languages alumni
Average Art Magazine, July issue

Honors and Awards
2021 The Other Art Fair Dallas New Futures Award
2017 President’s Purchase Award, 34th Annual Juried Student Exhibition
2016 Merit Award, 33rd Annual Juried Student Exhibition
2015 The Maude and Thomas Littlejohn Memorial Scholarship
2014 Committee’s Choice Award, Best of Memphis 2nd Annual Juried Exhibition

Grants
2022 Ecosystem X Special Mention Artist, MOZAIK Philanthropy

Collections
Dallas College
The University of Memphis Office of the President
The Art Museum of the University of Memphis

Press
Scientific American, How Jeff Koons’s Lunar Artwork Could Outlast All of Humanity, April 2024
Glasstire, Five Minute Tours: Laura J. Lawson at Ro2 Art Gallery, Dallas, September 2023
Canvas Blog, New Futures Class of 2021, Dallas, October 2021
Glasstire, Demons and Barbeque: July 2021 Shows in North Texas, Dallas, July 2021
Glasstire, Plan C: The Cedars Union Art Auction, Dallas, November 2020
Glasstire, Five-Minute Tours: Three Current Exhibitions at Craighead Green, Dallas, June 2020
Voyage Dallas, Art & Life with Laura J. Lawson, Dallas, TX, July 2018
l'Est Clair, Des artistes cosmopolites au Camac de Marnay-sur-Seine, Aube, France, January 2016

Professional Experience
2024 Full-time faculty, Dallas College
2021 The Shrinking Ballot, performance by Erica Felicella; ballot box installation crew
2019 Adjunct faculty, Austin College (through Spring 2022)
Adjunct faculty, Tarrant County College
2018 Adjunct faculty, Dallas College
2017 Visiting artist and workshop instructor, Austin College
Workshop instructor, Blue House Too, Visual Arts League of Allen, TX
2016 Chair, Box Gallery, The University of Memphis
Art Editor, The Pinch Literary Journal
Exhibition Support, The Art Museum of the University of Memphis
Instructor, Drawing II, The University of Memphis
2015 Mural Painter for A Genealogy of Kindness, Fogelman College of Business and Economics, The University of Memphis