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Artist Lawre Stone




Lawre Stone (b. 1960 Hartford, CT) makes paintings, works on paper and textile works that combine natural imagery and the language of abstraction in otherworldly landscapes. Her practice explores environmental issues and relationships between interior worlds and outer experience.


Stone's work has been exhibited at White Columns, NY, P.S. 1; The Institute for Contemporary Art, NY; LABSpace, Hillsdale, NY; Ronald Feldman Gallery, NY; Thompson Giroux Gallery, Chatham, NY; Furnace Art on Paper, Falls Village, CT, Silvermine Galleries, New Canaan, CT; Bernay Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA; NADA Foreland, Catskill, NY and Spring/Break Art Show NYC. Recent one person exhibitions include: Listening For Your Breathing in the Middle of the Night, Joyce Goldstein Gallery, Chatham, NY; and Invocation For the Morningstar, Russell Janis Projects Brooklyn, NY. Siren, her 2024 exhibition at Tanja Grunert Gallery, Hudson, NY, was accompanied by a catalog with essay by Lauren Levato Coyne. Stone has attended residencies at Art Omi, Ghent, NY; Pocoapoco, Oaxaca MX and Chateau Orquevaux, France.


Her project, Invasive Beauty, Painting the Displaced Species of Columbia County, NY was awarded a a 2024 New York State Council on the Arts Statewide Community Regrant through CREATE Council on the Arts. Her installation, Listening For Your Breathing in The Middle of the Night was recently acquired by the Francis J. Greenburger Collection, New York and installed in the 1000M Apartments, Chicago, through TEI Art-in-Buildings. Stone attended residencies at Art Omi, Ghent, NY, Chateau d’Orquevaux, France and Pocoapoco, Oaxaca, MX.


She holds a BFA from The Rhode Island School of Design and MFA from The Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College. She lives and works near Hudson, NY.





"My work combines natural imagery and the language of abstraction in otherworldly landscapes that explore environmental issues and the relationship between interior worlds and outer experience. The process begins with a series of preliminary ink sketches, followed by the application of thin layers of acrylic on canvas to construct an atmospheric foundation, gradually building depth and mood. Transitioning to oil paint and employing vivid, gestural strokes, I craft a dynamic space where bold flora takes form. The resulting images, almost archetypal organic forms, transcend mere depictions of individual plants, instead capturing the unseen essence of the vegetal world. My hybrid plant forms, a fusion of observation and imagination, neither entirely real nor fictional, evoke a sense of transformation and perseverance. I depend on the plant world as a subject, refuge, and inspiration. Many of my larger-than-life plant forms refer to invasive or displaced species thriving in our local environment without natural predators or climate indicators to impede their growth. As sentient beings, plants are in constant, contiguous, and contingent interaction with the world."




Tell us a little about yourself (where you are from) and your background in the arts.

I grew up in suburban New Jersey. As a child, I took art lessons in a studio upstairs from the art supply store in the town where I grew up. The teacher owned the art store, so we used professional tube watercolors and sable brushes. I was enthralled. Many years later, I realized that I was the only child in the class. From that point on, art became my focus.


For college, I went to art school and then moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where I established my studio and began exhibiting my work. After 911, our lives in Brooklyn became untenable and so my family moved upstate to the Hudson River Valley where I live today. In the early years my work leaned toward abstraction, but was always concerned with humanity's relationship with nature. Recently, this theme has expanded to include images inspired by invasive species and the impact of climate change on our environment.


A few years ago I built a new studio, transforming my practice. This larger space has allowed me to expand my work in terms of materials and scale while positioning me closer to nature. My recent paintings feature large-scale botanicals and flowering forms embedded in gestural, horizonless landscapes.


What kind of work are you currently making?

I make paintings with oil and acrylic on canvas, drawings and monoprints.


What is a day like in the studio for you?

I begin my mornings with a few ink drawings. This helps me warm up and work out ideas for images. Then I move to paint and canvas. I usually have several paintings in process at the same time so I can move between pieces, get some distance and allow layers to dry. I listen to music while I work. When I take a break, I usually look at monographs of other painters or books of botanicals. Sometimes I take a walk up the hill and collect plants.


Recently, I've been digging up invasive plants with the root ball intact, then bringing them back to the studio and placing them in mason jars filled with water. This gives me a good view of the roots. Some mornings I make drawings of these plants with the idea that a version will end up in a painting.


What are you looking at right now and/or reading?

I'm reading and looking at Maria Sibylla Merian's life and work. I'm obsessed with her 1705 book, "Metamorphosis Insectorum Surinamensium" which documents the botanical and insect paintings that she made in Surinam.


I'm also re-reading "The Spiritual in Art: Abstract Painting 1890 - 1985", the massive catalog for the LACMA exhibition organized by Maurice Tuchman. The spiritual roots of 20th c. abstract painting continue to interest me.


Where can we find more of your work? (ex. website/insta/gallery/upcoming shows)

















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