Laura Hohlwein
Laura Hohlwein (b. 1963) is a contemporary abstract painter working in Northern California. She holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College and an M.F.A. in Interdisciplinary Art from Transart Institute in Austria. She has been represented by the John Natsoulas Gallery since 2013. She is an educator and a published poet.
Hohlwein writes of her process:
“It is hard to find words for the experience of painting, which, though I love words, speaks eloquently to me entirely without them.
I don’t normally begin from or force any narrative or concept onto my work. My paintings begin largely as an exploration of color and the formal aspects of composition. Yet, whether or not images or stories reveal themselves, explicitly or implicitly, the work is always, in one way or another, about my experience of consciousness - of thinking, sensing, being, questioning, recollecting, forgetting.
The fragment is not separated from the whole, but is a constituent part, alive and changing. Indeed, it is a bit of an obsession - and not coincidentally a fundamental quality of painting itself - that each discernible individual element is contained and defined by the space, the field, around it.
At scales atomic to astronomical, this remains a consistent quality of the physical world, which I find very moving, eternal, and comforting, even as all things change, all the time. This phenomena ‘feels’ true emotionally and psychologically as well. All experiences happen within a larger context.
My paintings are meditations on these very primary physical, psychological, even spiritual relationships. These mutable realms precede language and express themselves to me in the living, vibrant dialogue of shape and color.”
Laura Hohlwein, Given, 2019, oil on canvas, 60" x 48"
Laura Hohlwein, First Bloom, 2019, Oil on canvas, 60" x 48"
Laura Hohlwein, Leaving the Green Room, 2009, Oil on canvas, 60" x 60"
Laura Hohlwein, Evening on Berryessa, 2019, Oil on panel, 8" x 36"
Laura Hohlwein, Clio: War Never Changes, 2022, Oil on canvas, 72" x 60"
EDUCATION
M.F.A in New Media from Transart Institute, Austria 2007
M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Vermont College 1989
B.A. from California State University, Sacramento 1986
Additional studies at:
New York University; San Francisco State University Multimedia Program; United Digital Artists, New York; The International School of Art, Umbria, Italy; McGill University, Montreal; Oberlin College, Ohio;
Centre D Etudes Françaises, Avignon, France; Parsons School of Design, NY
TEACHING
The Art Institute of California – Sacramento, Full-time Instructor
Sacramento City College – Sacramento
American River College- Sacramento
The Art Institute Online, Pittsburgh, PA;
Gibbs College, Montclair, NJ;
The University of California, Davis
and, in the Arts-in-Corrections Program at Duell Vocational Institution, The Northern California Women’s Facility, O.H. Close School for Boys, Susanville Correctional Facility and Folsom Prison
OTHER EMPLOYMENT
Creative Director/ Documentarian, The International Readers of Homer
Multimedia Artist / GUI Designer, Soliloquy, NY, NY
Video Scriptwriter / Director, General Training Company, CA
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Small Abstracts, Mostly, Ella K. McClatchy Library, Sacramento, 2016
Lyrical Abstraction, Sacramento County Board of Supervisors Chamber Gallery, Sacramento 2016
As Above, So Below: Reflections on Immanence, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, CA 2015
En Cours, with DocumentaryArt.net, Puicheric, France, 2014
Hard Rain, Solomon Dubnick, Sacramento, California 2012
With and Without Walls, Solomon Dubnick, Sacramento, California 2009
Outdoor Installation, Chios, Greece 2008
6 0f 304, Red Mill Gallery, Johnson, Vermont 2006
Turning Over the World, Solomon Dubnick, Sacramento, California 2005
Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, New York, New York
(one night video/sound installation – April 1, 2005)
A Visibility of Thought, Phoenix Gallery, New York, New York 2004
Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, New York, New York 2003
Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, California 1999
Stoeffel, (one night installation/exhibition) Sacramento, California 1998
Sacramento Poetry Center – performance of New Works Video
and Illuminated Painting Grant Project 1998
Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, California 1997
Galleria dell Escuola , Montecastello di Vibio, Italy 1997
Artist’s Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, California 1994
Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, California 1992
Artists Contemporary Gallery, Sacramento, California 1991
SELECTED GROUP SHOWS
California Landscapes, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis 2019
The Art of Painting in the 21st Century, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California 2019
The Art of Painting in the 21st Century, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California 2018
In Response: Poets and Artists in Dialogue, SMUD, Sacramento, California 2017
Movements & Behaviors, Union Hall, Los Rios Federation of Teachers, Sacramento, California 2017
The Art of Painting in the 21st Century, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California 2017
The Art of Painting in the 21st Century, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California 2016
The Art of Painting in the 21st Century, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California 2015
The Art of Painting in the 21st Century, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California 2014
Panama Arts Collective 2013
Panama Arts Collective 2012
Panama Arts Collective 2011
Solomon Dubnick, Sacramento, California 2008
Solomon Dubnick, Sacramento, California 2007
Red Mill Gallery, Johnson, Vermont 2006
Phoenix Gallery, New York, New York 2004
Phoenix Gallery, New York, New York 2004
Interpretations of Sound and Music, Morgan County Arts Council, Berkeley Springs, WV 2003
The Rennaisance Group: Artists Who Write – Watchung Arts Center, Watchung, NJ 2003
Abstract Realities, Solomon Dubnick, Sacramento, CA 2003
International Biennale of Contemporary Art, Florence, Italy 1999
Florence/USA, Angel Orensanz Foundation Center for the Arts, New York, New York 1999
Red Mill Gallery, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT1999
Galleria ISA, Montecastello di Vibio, Italy 1996
Dietrich Contemporary Arts, New York, New York 1996
Dietrich Contemporary Arts, New York, New York 1993
In Lakesh Invitational, Sacramento, California 1991
PERFORMANCE PAINTING
Jazz Beat Festival, John Natsoulas Gallery, Davis, California 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
DHS Orchestra, Davis, California 2014
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Triton Museum, Santa Clara
Embarcadero Corporate Center
Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello Gross & Leoni LLP.
REPRESENTED BY
John Natsoulas, Davis, California
GRANTS, RESIDENCIES & AWARDS
Scholarship to the New York Studio School Figure Painting Marathon 2018
Full Scholarship to Corning Museum of Glass 2018
California State Fair: Juror’s Award, Sacramento 2017
Documentary Art.Net Residency, Puicheric France 2014
Invited to join the Arctic Circle Science and Art Expedition 2014, reschedule pending
Banff Artist-in-Residence, Banff Centre for the Arts 2011
Student Choice Teaching Award – Art Institute of California, Sacramento 2011
Six-month working residency, Vermont Studio Center 2006
Three-month fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center 1999
New Works Painting /Video Grant from the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission 1998
Two Teaching Grants: California Arts Commission, ’93, ’96
Northern California: Introductions Winner 1991
Nominated for the Pushcart Poetry Prize 1989