Laurie Smithwick
Charlotte, NC
Laurie Smithwick is an abstract painter, printmaker, muralist who paints possibility, her work dances between order and surprise to answer questions she invents
MessageLaurie Smithwick is an abstract painter, printmaker, and muralist. She was born and raised in Charlotte, NC, studied art and creative writing at Duke University, and graphic design and photography at Parsons School of Design. Laurie was the founder and creative director of LEAP Design, and is a partner in the Alt Summit design conference. Her design work earned her a Grammy nomination, and she has delivered a TEDx talk on the genesis of ideas.
Laurie has exhibited throughout the US and the US Virgin Islands, taught printmaking and painting at McColl Center in Charlotte, and created murals for many businesses and organizations, including Novant Health, and the VAPA Center.
Her abstract art is steeped in formalism, eliciting emotion in much the same way that music does: Compositions resonate on distinct frequencies, evoking a range of feelings.
Statement
According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I am a P and a J. (Most people are a P or a J.) This amounts to a constant internal struggle between flexibility and structure, which can be difficult day to day, but turns out to be great for art.
I spent a lifetime as a graphic designer. Graphic design is an art form built on rules: grids, letterforms, hierarchies, and construction. I love these and cherish the order they bring to my work. But then I discovered watercolors and monoprinting — two art forms that force the artist to embrace unpredictability and abandon perfectionism. Now my art explores the tension between order and disorder; rules and intuition. I am obsessed with the equilibrium created by opposing forces. My artwork celebrates P and J and asks you to accept them both at the same time. Take that, Jung.
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