Laura Malone: The Shimmering Self

Laura Malone’s exhibition of figurative oil paintings, The Shimmering Self, continues her ongoing exploration of embodied female subjectivity. Through the nuances of her subjects’ body language, as well as her own gestures as she moves paint across a surface, Malone investigates the feminine body and its connection to self and surroundings. Spanning half a decade, these mostly large-scale works traverse a wide range between representation and abstraction, often within a single piece. Moments of ferocious gesture slow to delicate precision, inviting the viewer into a rhythmic journey of brush and body. This sense of continuous flux expresses flowing states of consciousness and is the essence of her point of view. As her subjects’ inner experiences radiate into the environment, they are simultaneously permeated by their surroundings. In this way she invites viewers into an evolving conversation between inner and outer worlds, asking, what really is a self?

Bio:
Born into a family of artists and academics, Laura Malone grew up in the thorny heat of Tucson, Arizona. The greys of her surroundings and the measured reserve of her intellectual household drove her to create work that is intimate and lush. This melding of the arid emotional climate of her youth with the parched desert environment became an ongoing investigation into the porosity between self and world. Her parallel career as a somatic therapist informs the core of her artistic practice, where paintings translate ineffable, felt states into form. Malone lives and works in the wooded hills of Oakland. Her paintings have been exhibited across the U.S. Honors include a Sheridan Prize for Art, acceptance into The Crocker Kingsley Art Competition, 2022 and inclusion in Disrupted Realism, curated by John Seed. Her work has been featured in publications including the East Bay Times, 48 Hills Magazine, and Artsy Shark. She is represented by Studio Shop Gallery in Burlingame and exhibits regularly with Mercury 20 Gallery.

Gallery Hours: Friday and Saturday, 12 – 5 pm (and by appointment)
Oakland Style Week Tour: Saturday, October 11, 11:30- 12 pm
Opening Reception: Saturday, October 18, 3 – 5 pm
Oakland Art Murmur / First Friday: Friday, November 7, 5 – 9 pm
Artists’ Talk: Saturday, November 15, 2 – 3:30 pm

Image: Laura Malone, “Friends,” 2025, acrylic and oil on canvas, 38″ x 54″, photo courtesy of the artist