Meet the Artist -- Laela White

Artist Statement

Being a human is simultaneously an incredibly exhausting and beautiful experience, and I navigate that contradiction in my practice. I think of my work as snapshots and love letters to domestic ignored intimate female spaces and experiences, to the mundane, to the everyday, to family dynamics, and to popular culture as experienced in the age of social media and in digital spaces.

My practices spans across image making in the two dimensional, sculptural wall reliefs, and sculptures occupying space. I oscillate between painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, and tufting. I love making work that is high chroma, with surfaces that beg to be touched, and are usually sprinkled with glitter for good measure. I utilize humor and satire as a way to invite viewers in for a laugh, and as a way for myself to process Hard Things TM like experiencing existential crises, anxiety, being from a lower socio-economic background, having a dysfunctional family, and being a woman of color in modern day America — amongst many other things under the umbrella of the human condition.

I pull a lot from my own personal narratives, memory, the shared lived experiences of people of color, especially in LA, the banality of everyday life, and moving through the world in the hellscape that is the 21st century while still trying to pursue moments of pleasure and unadulterated joy. I am fascinated with food and how it has such a pivotal role in culture, gatherings, moments of connection, acts of love, and keepsakes of histories. I’m investigating domestic spaces and how they inform how we think of ourselves, and how we connect with others.

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Artist Bio

Hi there! My name is Laela and I'm a Los Angeles native. I’m a multi-media interdisciplinary jack of all trades, master of a handful kind of artist — painting, sculpture, illustration, dance, and theatre to name a few. I’m pursuing my MFA at Otis College of Art and Design (2025). I love plants and animals and I spend most of my free time eating new yummy food, reading, and with my fiance Ivan, our dog, Salty, and our cats, Pepper, Anakin, Bizmuth, and Obsidian.