Laura Lau Klein has held creativity and adornment closely in life. Their work as a painter and regard for living spurred them to study art history, art, and anthropology at the University of Delaware. Their time in university didn’t quell their curiosity but inspired it further, leading them to pursue an artistic practice while traveling. Landing in Western North Carolina, Lau’s appreciation for material culture blossomed, learning natural dying and basketry, woodcarving, and silversmithing. This passion took them to Penland School of Craft, the John C. Campbell Folk School, and, most recently, the Professional Crafts Program at Haywood Community College to study jewelry. Upon graduation, they were awarded the 2024 Windgate-Lamar Fellowship Award through the Center for Craft to nurture their craft practice. Lau now lives in Asheville, NC, where their jewelry and mixed media work shows a reverence for the natural world and the human role within it.
