Laura Jones
The complexity of the relationship between humanity and the environment lies at the heart of Laura Jones’s practice, and through her paintings, printmaking, drawing and sculpture – ranging from still lives and domestic interiors to landscapes and scenes from everyday life – she uses the power and beauty of her art to convey both the vulnerability and wonder of the natural world. This deep concern has led Jones to undertake residencies where she has worked alongside scientists, researchers and the local community, at the Australian Museum’s Lizard Island Research Station and the University of Queensland’s Heron Island Research Station in the Great Barrier Reef, and in Antarctica, allowing these experiences “in the field” to both inform and infuse her work. Jones has also undertaken residencies in New York and Japan, at Port Macquarie’s Glasshouse Regional Art Gallery and Byron Bay School of Art, and she was the Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence at Tweed Regional Gallery, NSW in 2023.
Jones was the winner of the 2024 Archibald Prize with her portrait of writer Tim Winton and has been a finalist in many high-profile awards, including, among others, the Art Gallery of NSW’s Archibald, Sulman and Wynne Prizes, the Portia Geach Memorial Award, the Fisher’s Ghost Art Award, the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. In 2024, she collaborated with Australian fashion duo Romance Was Born on their Spring/Summer ’25 season, Music for Trees, and her work has been published in magazines such as Artist Profile, Art Collector and Art Almanac Australia. Jones has also featured in major publications, including Amber Cresswell Bell’s A Painted Landscape: Across Australia from Bush to Coast (2018) and Karina Dias Spires’s Artists at Home (2022).
Laura Jones’s work has been widely collected and is represented in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the Parliament of New South Wales, Sydney; Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Arts Centre, NSW; and Artbank, as well as numerous private collections within Australia and internationally.
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LAURA JONES FINALIST IN ARCHIBALD PRIZE
Laura Jones has been selected as a finalist in the 2023 Archibald Portrait Prize with her work Claudia (the GOAT).
The Archibald Prize for portrait painting is the country’s favourite and most significant art award. Since 1921, it has highlighted figures from all walks of life, from famous faces to local heroes, reflecting back to us the stories of our times.
Actor and producer Claudia Karvan has worked in the industry since she was a child. It’s been two decades since she was first seen in the Archibald, in 2003, in a portrait by Martine Emdur. "I painted Claudia’s portrait after seeing 'The goat, or who is Sylvia?' at Sydney Theatre Company," says three-time Archibald finalist Laura Jones. "Claudia sat for the portrait between a matinee and evening show, so she was still in costume and, in a sense, still in character. The theatre was empty and the lighting was low, with just the reflected light bouncing up from the stage floor. I took photos and drew her as we chatted away about life and love."
"I have known Claudia for a few years now and relish her infectious energy and humour. At the end of the play, her character ends up covered in blood. Claudia looked at the portrait in progress and cheekily said, "More blood!""
The Archibald, Wynne and Sulman Prizes 2023 exhibition is open from Saturday 6 May at The Art Gallery of New South Wales.
LAURA JONES FEATURES IN ARTISTS AT HOME BOOK
In this book, "32 female artists in Australia share images and stories of their homes, studios, and creative practice. Exploring their diverse practice and a variety of mediums, these formidable artists are united by their strength, passion, vulnerability and uncompromising artistic visions".
Author and photographer Karina Dias Pires takes readers behind the scenes into the creative spaces of these remarkable women, amplifying their voices through the intersection of their professional and personal lives. The result is an honest, intimate reflection on their career evolutions, motivations and inspirations. Featuring unpublished images and interviews with artists such as Laura Jones, Yvette Coppersmith, Tamara Dean, Lindy Lee, Louise Olsen and Patricia Piccinini, the focus is on empowering women and exploring both the art and the extraordinary women behind it.
This book is available Australia wide across book stores and museums, as well as on the author's website.
Image: Laura Jones photographed in her home and studio by Karina Dias Pires @karina.dias.pires
LAURA JONES ARTIST RESIDENCY, TWEED REGIONAL GALLERY
For the month of February, Laura was awarded the Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence studio at the Tweed Regional Gallery, a live in residency encouraging creative engagement with the work and studio of Margaret Olley.
Pictured above: Laura in front of some of her still life paintings of vases and fruit-bowls previously in the home of Margaret Olley. The paintings will be included in an exhibition in October at Tweed Regional Gallery celebrating 100 years of Margaret Olley's birthday anniversary.
Photo: Amelia Fullarton
LAURA JONES - ARCHIBALD PRIZE NOMINATION 2022
Brooke Boney is a Gamilaroi woman from Muswellbrook, NSW, and the first Indigenous presenter in the history of Australian breakfast television.
‘On the day of the sitting in my studio, Brooke asked if she could bring her pug Jimmy along. I thought that his funny little face would be a great contrast to Brooke’s because she is almost too beautiful to paint!’ says Sydney-based Laura Jones, a two-time Archibald finalist.
LAURA JONES SELECTED AS A FINALIST IN THE PADDINGTON ART PRIZE
Laura Jones has been selected as a finalist in the Paddington Art Prize. The a $30,000 national acquisitive prize is awarded annually for a painting inspired by the Australian landscape. The work will be displayed at Defiance Gallery in 2021.
Image: Laura Jones, Bushfire ephemerals, 2021
LAURA JONES IN THE WYNNE PRIZE
Laura Jones has been shortlisted in the Wynne Prize for Australian landscape painting.
About her shortlisted triptych, Jones explains, 'Early this year, I heard rumours that fields of tiny pink flannel flowers were popping up all over the Blue Mountains, just west of my hometown of Kurrajong, NSW. Actinotus forsythii are described as bushfire ephemerals, and this event was a once-in-a-lifetime mass synchronicity of flowering. Their seeds have lain dormant for years, requiring a rare confluence of events to trigger germination – smoke from the catastrophic 2020 bushfires and the heavy rain of last summer. No-one had seen them grow on this scale since the 1950s – they blanketed the ridges and completely altered the feel of the landscape. Swallowing up blackened tree trunks and burnt banksia remains, they were a bittersweet reminder of the firestorm that preceded them.'
The exhibition is on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales until 26 September 2021.
Image: Laura Jones, Bushfire ephemerals – Wollangambe wilderness, 2021. Photo: AGNSW, Mim Stirling
LAURA JONES AT MANLY ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM
Laura Jones's solo exhibition The Garden will be on display at Manly Art Gallery and Museum until 14 February 2021.
Jones's ongoing connection to the Hawkesbury River region has led to the creation of a new body of work in response to this unique river landscape. Combined with works from her recent Arcadia series, this exhibition is a personal exploration of the fragility and resilience of ecosystems and the cycle of life.
To enquire about available works, please contact the gallery.
Image: Laura Jones, Arcadia, 2020
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