Laura Jones (b. Sydney 1982) works across painting, drawing, printmaking, and sculpture. A bold colourist, Jones’ unique visual language is defined by poetic observations of the natural world. Jones has regularly exhibited in public and commercial galleries since 2011. Residencies include travel to two scientific research stations on the Great Barrier Reef; The Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station and the University of Queensland’s Heron Island Research Station. Jones has also been Artist in Residence at The Glasshouse Regional Art Gallery, the Byron Bay School of Art, completed extensive private residencies in New York and Japan, and was artist on board the 2018 WWF Expedition to Antarctica.
Jones has been a regular finalist in numerous art awards, including The Wynne Prize, The Archibald Prize, The Fisher's Ghost Art Award, the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship, and was winner of the People's Choice Award at the Paddington Art Prize in 2021. Her work is held in the Artbank collection and private collections in Australia and overseas.
Jones holds a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) from the University of Sydney and a Master of Art (Printmaking) from the Art & Design college of the University of New South Wales.
“The natural world—and its fluttering cycles of life and loss, bloom and decay— has always been omnipresent in Laura Jones’ arts practice. A childhood spent in Kurrajong, at the feet of the glorious Blue Mountains, has imparted the artist with an adulation for environmental wonders. Using an observational approach, Jones creates radiant oil paintings that unravel the profoundness of florals, animalia, fruits and aquatic life. The artist is unheeded by technical exactness, rather, she vivifies the still-life tradition by capturing her subject matters as energies in transit. Her often ponderous and intuitive compositions are replete with enthralling colours, obscure gestures, and forms that flirt with depth and scale.”
- Mariam Arcilla