biography
“I am 58 years old and much of my work explores the subject I know best, myself. That said, the more I discover the less I know. I’m inspired by the drawing or painting process itself. My self portraits have been characterized as idiosyncratic, personal, unapologetic pieces about life – the grief, the toil, and the disappointments – as well as expressions of those moments of joy when we rise to overcome our struggles. The pieces reveal whatever’s churning internally with me at any given time-whether it’s weariness or loss which accompanies aging-or the celebration of my spirit and skills through the creative act in and of itself.“
Laura Tan is an American artist based in Florida, USA, whose body of work chronicles three decades of self-portraits that record how she feels and sees herself in an unfiltered, emotional response towards a specific moment in her life. Based on prolific sketches, watercolors, and photographs, Tan starts by adding experimental textures, staining her paintings and building up paint which she intuitively modulates and transforms by wiping and scraping into its fresh layers. She often returns to preexisting paintings, recycling and modifying them in a free and eloquent manner to enhance a personal narrative.
Tan portrays herself without frills or conscious seduction, bluntly presenting herself as she is, a modern middle-aged woman gazing directly at the viewer, celebrating her inner strengths by de-emphasizing her gender as an identity. The relaxed pose[s], distressed surface textures, and sophisticated warm and cool color palette suggest the passage of time. The. . . highly recognizable—wear and tear of gentle yet undeniable aging that slowly transforms natural beauty and grace is an inexorable process of physical and emotional change we all encounter and which isn’t easy to embrace and accept.
~ Lorena Kloosterboer 2017
education
1991-93 M.F.A., University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
1981-85 B.F.A., Summa Cum Laude, University of Miami, Coral Gables, FL
selected exhibitions
2018 “Artful Grace” Armand Bolling Fine Art, Jupiter, FL
2017 “Best of the Season,” Armand Bolling Fine Art, Jupiter, FL
“HOME,” (in collaboration with Edwidge Danticat), Laundromat Art Space, Little Haiti, FL
“Idiosyncratic Monochromes,” curated by Loreena Kloosterboer, PoetsArtists#85
“Grand Opening,” Armand Bolling Fine Art, Jupiter, FL
2016 “Summer Solstice,” Armand Bolling Fine Art, Jupiter, FL
“Art Palm Beach 2016,” Armand Bolling Fine Art, West Palm Beach, FL
“SWEAT Broadsheet Collaboration,” New York Center for Book Arts, New York, NY
“Art Boca 2016,” Armand Bolling Fine Art, Boca Raton, FL
2014 “SWEAT II,” MDC-Kendall Campus Gallery, Miami, FL
2013 “Nice and Not Nice,” Coconut Grove Arts Festival Gallery, Miami, FL
“Nicastri/Martinez/Tan,” Bridge Red Studios Project Space, Miami, FL
“The 61st Annual Juried All Florida Exhibition and Competition,” The Boca Raton Museum of Art, Boca Raton, FL
“ConversationToo,” The Jaffe Center for Book Arts, Florida Atlantic University Libraries,
Boca Raton, FL
2012 “The SWEAT Broadsheet Collaboration,” MDC-Wolfson Campus, Miami, FL
2011 “Gallery Artists,” Karen Lynne Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2010 “Gallery Artists,” Karen Lynne Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2009 “Gallery Artists,” Karen Lynne Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2008 “Summer Show,” Karen Lynne Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
2002 The Body As A Poetic Space, Collage of the Americas Gallery, Chicago, IL
“Our First Ever Annual Holiday For Sale Show,” Miami-Dade Department of Cultural
Affairs, Miami, FL
1999 “Laura Tan,” Metro-Dade Cultural Resource Center, Miami, FL
“New Paths: Annual Facutly Show,” NWSA, Miami, FL
“Views and Tolerance,” Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL
1998 “New Paths: Annual Faculty Show,” New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
“Group Exhibition,” Museum of Contemporary Art, Coral Springs, FL
“Traditional Values,” Santa Fe Gallery, Gainesville, FL
1997 “Florida Visual Art Fellowships,” Orlando City Hall, Orlando, FL; Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, Florida; Gulf Coast Art Center, Belleair, FL; Okalossa-Walton Community College, Niceville, FL; East Martello Museum, Key West, FL
Florida International University Faculty Exhibition, Miami, FL
1996 “Featuring Florida,” The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL
1995 “Still Lives: Four Interactions with the Past,” Ground Level Gallery, Miami Beach, FL
“Annual Faculty Show,” New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
1993 “Annual Faculty Show,” New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
“Collage and Assemblage: Works by Florida Artists,” Center for the Arts, Vero Beach, FL
“Faculty 1993 Exhibition,” Lowe Art Museum, Coral Gables, FL
“Thirty And Under,” Ground Level Exhibition Space, Miami Beach, FL
1992 “Still Life: A Visual Feast,” Miami Dade Public Library System, Miami, FL
1989 “Laura O’Steen,” MIA Contemporary, Miami Beach, FL
1988 “Couples,” North Miami Museum, North Miami, FL
1987 “Group Show,” Greene Gallery, Miami, FL
“Florida Invitational II,” OK South Gallery, Miami, FL
“Micro,” Artifacts Art Salon, Miami Beach, FL
1986 “20 Under 30,” Hollywood Center for the Fine Arts, Hollywood, FL
“Micro,” NOW Gallery, New York, NY
“Micro,” Artifacts Art Salon, Miami Beach, FL
bibliography
2018 Kloosterboer, Loreena. “Glorious Color.” PoetsArtists# June 2018: pp. 13-14
Menendez, Didi. “50 Groovy Art Selfies on Instagram.” BuzzFeed Community, Didi
Menendez, 04 April 2018
2017 Menendez, Didi. “The Secret Use of Photography in Paintings Revealed.” BuzzFeed Community, Didi Menendez, 10 Oct. 2017
Kloosterboer, Loreena. “Idiosyncratic Monochromes.” PoetsArtists#85 June 2017: pp. 13-14
2016 Ludwig, Myles. “Art Boca Raton unveils some gems amid the dross, overcrowding.” Palm
Beach Arts Paper 23 March 2016: feature Photograph and review, p. 1.
2013 Tschida, Anne. “Building Bridges.” Biscayne Times June 2013: photograph and review, p. 68.
2012 Josephsen, Kelly. “Laura Tan helps Key Biscayne young minds explore creativity.” The Islander News 27 December 2012: p. 11.
Casale, Frank. “Laura Tan, Still Life on Green.” Biscayne Times (www.BiscayneTimes.com)
July 2012: feature photograph.
2008 Cruz, Lisette. “Laura Tan Still Lifes for a New Century.” Social Affairs Sept 2008: pp. 66-67.
1999 Alvarez Bavo, Armando. “Entre el paisaje y la naturaleza muerta.” El Nuevo Herald: review and feature photograph.
1998 Marger, Mary Ann. “Works by 16 Florida Artists on Display.” St. Petersburg Times 22 May
1998: review and feature photograph.
1996 Altabe, Joan. “Still Lifes With An About-Face,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune 09 August 1996: review and feature photograph.
1993 Turner, Elisa. “Young at Art,” Miami Herald 25 June 1993: review and feature photograph.
1989 “Review,” review and feature photograph, Miami Herald.
1988 “Couples,” catalogue, North Miami Museum.
“Review,” Miami Herald.
honors & recognitions
2016 Juror, Coconut Grove Arts Festival, 2-D Painting, Drawing, Printmaking, Mixed Media
2015 Recipient, “Francisco R. Walker 2017-Teacher of the Year,” MDCPS, Miami, FL
2012 Regional Finalist, “Rookie Teacher of the Year,” MDCPS, Miami, FL
2002 Guest Panelist, The Body as a Poetic Space, Collage Gallery, Chicago, IL
1998 Guest Panelist, Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, Belleair, FL
1996 Recipient: Florida Individual Artist Fellowship Award, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs
1996 Juror, Two-Dimensional Entries, Coconut Grove Arts Festival, Coconut Grove, FL
1996 Guest Panelist, “The State of the Visual Arts in Florida,” The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, FL
1989-91 Visual Arts Preliminary Panel Member, National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts
(NFAA)
1988 Honorable Mention, Individual Artist Fellowship, Florida Division of Cultural Affairs
public collections
Arthur and Matta Jaffe Collection of Books as Aesthetic Objects, FAU, Boca Raton, FL
Florida Atlantic Digital Collection, FAU, Boca Raton, FL
MDC Museum of Art + Design, Miami, FL
American Bankers Insurance Group, Miami, FL
Sun Bank, Fort Lauderdale, FL
collections
Dr. Alex Angelides, Ms. Cheryl Barkin, Dr. Betty Bellman, Mr. and Mrs. Myles Berkman,
Mr. and Mrs. Steven Berkman, Mr. David Beatty, Dr. and Mrs. Grant Beglarian, Ms.
Monika Burg, Ms. Ann Bussel, Mr. and Mrs. Edgar Bronfman, Jr., Ms. Joanie Chalakani,
Mr. Claudio Coughi, Ms. Pat Dahne, Mr. Thomas Downs, Mrs. Darlene Durant, Mr.
Brady Elliott, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Firestone, Colonel and Mrs. Bruce Gandy, Mr. Douglas
Goodess, Mr. and Mrs. Kerry Herndon, Mr. and Mrs. Wiley Hicks, Mr. and Mrs. Robert
Hyman, Mr. and Mrs. William T. Keon III, Dr. Linda Keller, Ms. Donna Kolikoff, Dr.
Charles Kosove, Ms. Michelle Lacalle, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Lan, Dr. and Mrs. Alan Lewin, Mrs. Gaye Luaces, Mr. Tin Ly, Ms. Flo Moss, Mr. and Mrs. John Oramas, Dr. Anne Ouellette, Mr. Michael Reynolds, Mr. David Richman, Mrs. Bonnie Roddenberry, Mr. Tom Ryder, Mr. and Mrs. C.S. Schulte, Dr. Robert Shebert, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Sleeper, Mr. and Mrs. Steven Smolev, Mr. Colin Vetch
professional affiliations
Armand Bolling Fine Art, Jupiter, FL
Karen Lynne Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
Michele Rosenfeld, New York, NY
Jaffe Baker Gallery, Boca Raton, FL
teaching experience & accomplishments
2017 FTCE Subject Area Expert, “Art K-12” (Item Validation & Sensitivity and Bias Review) Committee member
2015-16 Recipient, “Francisco R. Walker 2017 – Teacher of the Year,”
MDCPS, Miami, FL
2012 ‘Regional Finalist,’- “2014 Rookie Teacher of the Year,” MDCPS, Miami, FL
Instructor and Facilitator, “Art Media: Room with a View,” Professional
Development Workshop, MDCPS-PD Menu Activity, Pinecrest, FL
2007-present Art Educator, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Miami, FL: Southside ES (2012-present); Key Biscayne K-8 Center (2008-2012); Ada Merritt K-8 Center (2009); Coconut Grove ES (2010-11); Sunset ES (2007-08); Kensington Park ES (2008).
1998-2000 Adjunct Faculty Member, Florida International University—Responsibilities: Design and Teach: 1) Foundations Painting; 2) Foundations Drawing;
30“Introduction to Materials and Techniques,” Miami, FL
1997-2000 Adjunct Faculty Member, New World School of the Arts—Responsibilities: Design and Teach (*High School and College Level Courses): 1) Painting; 2) Two-Dimensional Design, Miami, FL
1997-99 Assistant Director, “Arts for Humanity,” non-profit, Miami, FL
1995 Adjunct Faculty Member, University of Miami—Responsibilities: Design, Teach and
Display semester “Foundations Drawing,” courses and exhibits, Coral Gables, FL
1993-95 Adjunct Faculty Member, New World School of the Arts—Responsibilities: Design and Teach: 1) “Basic Drawing” and 2) “Beginning Painting,” Miami, FL
1994 Visiting Artist and Lecturer, Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville, FL;
Responsibilities: Conduct drawing workshop and recruit NSWA candidates
1994 Adjunct Faculty Member, University of Miami, “Art After Dark”—Watercolor Instructor, Coral Gables, FL
1991-93 Adjunct Faculty Member, University of Miami—Responsibilities: Design and Teach: 1) Drawing101/102 and 2) Beginning Painting, Coral Gables, FL
1989 Adjunct Faculty Member, New World School of the Arts—Responsibilities: Design and Teach: “Beginning Drawing,” Miami, FL