Mary Laube 메리 라우비

BiographyMary Laube (born Seoul, Korea, 1985) is Assistant Professor at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She received her MFA (2012) from The University of Iowa, and her BFA (2009) from Illinois State University. Past exhibitions include Ortega y Gasset Projects (NYC), VCU Qatar (Doha), Monaco (St Louis), The Spring Break Art Show (NYC), and Coop Gallery (Nashville). Artist residencies include Yaddo, Wassaic Project, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Vermont Studio Center, and Stiwdeo Maelor in Corris, Wales. Past publications include Art Maze Mag, Maake Magazine, and New American Paintings. In 2019, Mary received the Contemporary Visual Art Bronze Award from AHL Foundation. She is a co-founder of the Warp Whistle Project, a collaborative duo with composer Paul Schuette. Together, they make work that merges kinetic stage sets with music performance.

Artist StatementMy work explores the transformative nature of identity and culture within the context of the adopted Korean diaspora. Each work is prefaced by careful study of museum artifacts, architecture, or landmarks related to historic preservation. Objects such as wrapping cloths, ink stones, Buddhist statues, and shaman symbols surface in my paintings as synthesized forms that appear flattened, off-kilter, and often unnamable. I use abstraction as a device for re-shaping seemingly embalmed fragments of history into mutable ideas. Through re-imagining historical objects, my paintings explore the dynamics between individual identity and collective formations of culture.

Website Mary Laube