about the artist
Laura Catherwood is a Chicago-based painter working primarily in graphite and oil paint. Coaxing these materials into soft textures and delicate gestures, she creates sensitive illustrations of plants, animals, and odd creatures.
Her compositions place familiar nature imagery in unexpected situations, resulting in quiet scenes that explore the inner emotional landscape while simultaneously soothing the viewer. The creatures offer the audience company in handling their ambivalent feelings, challenging experiences, unanswered questions, and grief. She works often in series, and these bodies of work evoke an intimate, mysterious narrative for the viewer to curiously enter.
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CV
Recent Exhibitions
2024 Upcoming: Solo Exhibition: All Things Stirring, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2024 Microdose 4, Nucleus House, Portland, OR
2024 Becoming, WOW x WOW, wowxwow.com
2024 Surreal, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2024 CELESTIAL, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Solo Feature: Hearsay, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2023 AQUA MIAMI with Arch Enemy Arts
2023 Mini Mix & Match, Quirky Fox, Hawera, New Zealand
2023 Solo Feature: Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
2023 The Enormous Tiny Art Show #34, Nahcotta Gallery, Portsmouth, NH
Projects
2022 Vinyl Toy Painting, Google, Chicago, IL
2021 Corporate Mural, Clara Williams Company, Chicago, IL
2021 Private Mural, Damen & Wabansia plywood, Chicago, IL
2021 Private Mural, Full Nursery, Chicago, IL
2020 Corporate Mural, The Crepe Shop, 5 x 25ft, Chicago, IL
2020 Corporate Mural, Sip of Hope, 8x 8ft, Chicago, IL
2020 Corporate Mural, Google, 8 x 4ft, Chicago, IL
2020 Corporate Mural, Hayden Hall, 115 x 14ft, Chicago, IL
2019 Private Mural, They’re Stories Now, 10 x 10ft, Chicago, IL
2019 Corporate Mural, Ada Street, 10 x 10ft, Chicago, IL
Publications
2024 Laminator Vol. 1, Artists on the Lam
2022 “In Wicker Park mural, Laura Catherwood’s ‘Birdfrog’ mural marries nature with whimsy” by Austin Hojdar, Chicago Sun Times, Oct 21, 2022
2022 “Whippoorwills,” The End is Nigh, Light Grey Art Lab
2021 “The Point,” Vernacular Magazine Issue 02
2021 “Bleeding Heart- Tenderness,”The Sick Muse Issue #14
2017 “Schema,” Solo Crowd Year Two,
2016 “Transmutation Spell,” Solo Crowd Year One
Awards
2018 Illinois Arts Council Agency Grant
2015 Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant
Education
2012-2015 Atelier Study, Atelier Eftimov, Chicago, IL
2011-2012 Atelier Study, School of Representational Art, Chicago, IL
2008-2011 BS Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL
Past Exhibitions
2023 COURTSIDE 2, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Wag Your Tail, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL
2023 Eclectic Majestic, WOW x WOW, wowxwow.com
2023 NO PLACE LIKE..., Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Salut! 8, Nucleus Portland, Portland, OR
2023 PAUSE, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Come Kiss, A Very Serious Gallery, Chicago, IL
2023 10-Year Anniversary Show Pt 1, Vertical Project Space, Chicago, IL
2023 2023 Spotlight Showcase, Arch Enemy Arts, Philadelphia, PA
2023 Playlist, Rotofugi, Chicago, IL
2023 Ethereal Orchard, WOW x WOW, wowxwow.com
2023 Winter Dreams, A Very Serious Gallery, Chicago, IL
2022 #INK2, Vertical Project Space, Chicago, IL
2022 SCOPE Miami Beach with Vertical Gallery
2022 Atomic Number 13 (part 2), Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL (curated by ArtBuilds)
2022 Thing or Two, Vertical Project Space, Chicago, IL
2022 Power in Numbers 7, Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra, CA
2022 The Poison Garden, Antler Gallery, Portland, OR
2022 Sold Out Don’t Come, A Very Serious Gallery, Chicago, IL
2022 From Near and Far, Home Away From Home, Chicago, IL
2022 Solo Exhibition: Book of Yielding, Vertical Project Space, Chicago, IL
2021 Atomic Number 13, Vertical Gallery, Chicago, IL (curated by ArtBuilds)
2021 Power in Numbers 6, Gallery Nucleus, Alhambra, CA
2021 Blake Jones and Friends “Doublespeak”, Vertical Project Space, Chicago, IL
2021 The End is Nigh, Light Grey Art Lab, Minneapolis, MN
2021 Bergart Presents: The Fall Review, Congruent Space, Chicago, IL
2021 Line Dot’s Fifth Annual Juried Exhibition, Line Dot Editions, Chicago, IL
2021 Slaps! A Sticker Exhibition Vol. 3, Vault Gallerie, Chicago, IL
2021 DECAHEDRON, Artists On The Lam, ArtistsOnTheLam.com
2021 Beyond Rad Clouds, Galeria83, Chicago, IL
2021 Water the Plants!, Vertical Project Space, Chicago IL (curated by Joseph Renda Jr.)
2021 Saturdays Only Unless It’s Raining, Bergart, Chicago, IL
2021 #INK, Vertical Project Space, Chicago, IL
2020 Covers, Connect Gallery, Chicago, IL (curated by Chad Edwards)
2020 Love Adjacent, Sally Centigrade, Lakewood, CO (curated by Isamar Medina)
2020 Dope Art Show, Outdoor Event, Chicago, IL (curated by Bird Milk and Liz Cook)
2020 Solo Exhibition: Fable Florals, Bergart, Chicago, IL
2020 Slaps! Show: Lockdown, online on Instagram @slapsshow
2020 Bad Babes of [blnk], [blnk] Haus Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019 Line Dot’s 4th Anniversary Show, Line Dot Editions, Chicago, IL
2019 This is Inside Town, Inside Town, Chicago, IL
2019 Awaken the Divine Feminine, Salt Air Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019 Slaps! X YCA, Young Chicago Authors, Chicago, IL
2019 The Tiny Deck Show, [blnk] Haus Gallery, Chicago, IL
2019 Locus: II, The Martin, Chicago, IL
2019 Urbs in Horto, Chicago, IL
2019 Line Dot’s 3rd annual Juried Show, Line Dot Editions, Chicago, IL
2019 Reanimate Vol. 4, The Martin, Chicago, IL
2019 Solo Exhibition: Secret Society Dropout, Little Broken Things, Chicago, IL
2018 Reanimate: Chosen, Esquina, Chicago, IL
2018 Solo Exhibition: Jalan Jalan, Palette and Chisel Art Academy
2017 Reanimate Volume 2, Chicago Art Department, Chicago, IL
2016 Reanimate, Esquina, Chicago, IL