Biography
Jamaican and Dominican-American Lauryn Lawrence is an artist and curator whose work examines her experiences as an Afro-Latina intersectional feminist. Lawrence was born in South Florida, where she currently resides.
Lawrence emphasizes capturing representations of intersectional communities in society and paying attention to the relationship between people and their spaces. Her curatorial work seeks to bridge gaps by engaging with artists who reflect on the Black, Latin, and Caribbean aesthetic through the lens of the immigrant experience in North America.
Lawrence earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Art History alongside a Visual Production Certificate from the Florida International University in 2021 and a Master's degree in Museums, Galleries, and Contemporary Culture from the University of Westminster in London in 2023, which helped shaped her curatorial practice by deepening her understanding of how cultural institutions shape, fund, and disseminate culture.
Her studies focused on the changing role of cultural provision and theoretical museum and gallery issues. Returning to Miami, Lawrence now works at the Museum of Art and Design at Miami Dade College and joined the Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) as an Archivist Curatorial Fellow.
Her recent 2022 photographic series, Womxnhood, is a series that sheds light on the very differences that build the foundation for the agency and subjectivity of the artists portrayed. As part of this series, Lawrence explores intersectionality, identity, sacred spaces, and vulnerability.
Artist Statement
My lens engages with individuals and their spaces, centering the importance of reconstructing and unpacking the representation of intersectional experiences. Through exploring intersectional feminist literature and photographic journals, my work explores shared human experiences while highlighting the power of differences.
My desire to explore identity outside of the socialization sphere motivated my interest in intersectional feminist literature, especially as that relates to the navigation of my career as an artist and curator. My work is influenced by my experiences as Afro-Latina, creating imagery that speaks to my heritage and to the connections I have made along the way. Photography helps me build bridges, fortifying establishing friendships and creative experiences within the communities that I create in and with.
Through my work, I continue to survey the many facets of emotions and subjectivity that are present in spaces that people move within.
CV
EDUCATION
2022 - 2023
Master’s of Art in Museums, Galleries, and Contemporary Culture from the University of Westminster in London.
2017 - 2021
Bachelor’s of Art in Art and Art History, Certificate in Visual Production from Florida International University.
EXHIBITIONS & COLLECTIONS
2025
Moderated the Museum of Art and Design at Miami Dade College Talks: The Artist as Educator - A panel discussion Kabuya Pamela Bowens-Saffo, Anita Sharma, and Dr. Alex Cornelius in Miami, Florida.
Moderated the Museum of Art and Design at Miami Dade College Talks: Time and Place: Multitudes of Black Experience in Miami - A panel discussion between Dr. Valerie Patterson, Dr. Donette Francis, and Dr. Simeon Richardson in Miami, Florida.
2024
DVCAI Curatorial Cohort at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia
2023
She’s Safe Here: The Vulnerability of Existing solo exhibition highlighting the Womxnhood Volume I Series curated by The Arts 3040 Museum and Gallery Practices course at Nova Southeastern University - Gallery 217 at NSU Main Campus in Fort Lauderdale, FL
Moderated Artist Talk with Photographer Tee Max during The Ascension Years Exhibition at the Black Cultural Archives in Brixton, England.
2022
Independently Curated Reimagining Docile Bodies Group Exhibition & featured Vulva Study 002 artwork - Up 2 Something Studios in Wynwood, FL.
Moderated Artist talk with Leslie Gomez-Gonzalez, Amaris Cruz-Guerrero, and Ari Temkin for Reimagining Docile Bodies Group Exhibition - Up 2 Something Studios in Wynwood, FL
Literature as Art: Beyond the Cover Group Exhibition - ArtToSavesLives Contemporary Gallery in North Miami, FL.
Womxnhood Solo Exhibition curated by Laura Bustamante - One World Gallery in North Miami, FL.
2021
Women I Know Solo Exhibition - Up 2 Something Studios in Miami, FL.
Caminantes Group Exhibition - Curated by Laura Bustamante at FAT (Flagler + Arts + Technology) Village Arts District in downtown Fort Lauderdale, FL.
2020
Co-curated and featured Process 001 series at Process Group Exhibition - Florida International University: F8 Film Photography Club.
2018
The Water Between Us - Design Art Concepts Art Basel 2018 Group Exhibition
PUBLICATIONS
Artsy
Photographs published in and on the cover of KEEKS Magazine based in Seattle, Washington.
Press Release for Womxnhood Vol. I Solo Exhibition in North Miami, FL.
AWARDS & HONORS
2024
Hambidge Fellow at The Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia.
Archivist Curatorial Fellow at Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator in Miami, Florida.
2023
Published The Curatorial Forum - A website designed as a platform to enable dialogue and collaborative professional development within curatorial practices.
2022
Nominated as a Panelist for Florida Atlantic University’s National Organization of Women’s 4th annual Black History Month Symposium.
Nominated as a panelist for Florida Atlantic University’s Business and Professional Women’s Scholarship House Symposium.
Self Published a Photojournalist Novel titled, Womxnhood: Volume I.
2021
Nominated as a Guest Speaker to give a lecture to the Studio Culture Club of Louisiana State University.
2020
Self- Published a Photographic Novel titled, Women I Know.