Meet Laurie Shapiro | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Laurie Shapiro and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Laurie, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I grew up going to a good public school just outside of NYC. Many of my peers were getting ready to college and become doctors and lawyers – for reasons such as family pressure and financial security. As a person who feels things deeply, and had no family pressure regarding an occupation, I could not see pursuing an internally unfulfilling career. As a teenager, I understood that the occupation you pick is how you spend most of your adult life. That being said, I knew I had to pursue art. At the time, I didn’t even understand that I could be a full-time, studio artist, but I made the next step of applying to art programs. At Carnegie Mellon University, I realized I. could pursue a life as a full time artist.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a mixed media artist best known for my immersive and other worldly installations – colorful, handmade and painted environments, sometimes referred to as psychedelic textile caves. I am a painter who uses screen printing and sewing in my work. Professionally, I am most proud of the success of my solo shows with Radiant Space, where there were lines of 1000+ people to get into the installations on opening night. In addition, I am proud of my installation commissions for Coffee World and Other World. One thing that got me to where I am today is consistent dedication to the work, a daily routine and dedication to the work. There have been many challenges, and having a few very supportive people in my network has been the most helpful in overcoming the many obstacles.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Sage – we are going to Sage Vegan Bistro! They have a few great locations in the city, and maybe we will go to all of them. For the Culver City location, we will bike there along the Balongia Creek Trail after paddle boarding in Marina del Rey. We will make a west side biking adventure out of the day. When we visit echo park (we will also bike there, but from my Lincoln Heights studio), we will also stop at Sage and get a vegan pizza or buffalo cauliflower wings (or both!) and kombucha beer. We will hang out at the lake for the afternoon. Another day, we will drive up to Altadena to enjoy the Angeles National Forest. After a great hike, we will stop at Sage’s Pasadena location and eat in their outdoor patio.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Olivia Mia Orozco, David Johnson, Pen Densham

Website: laurieshapiroart.com
Instagram: @laurieshapiroart
Facebook: facebook.com/laurieshapiroart

Image Credits
image of artist is curtesy of Pen Densham