Laura Lowe

Laura Lowe (b.1991 Helsinki, FI) works with the iridescent colour spectra found in oil slicks and coal. Rather than using pigment, her Structural Colour Paintings produce colour through translucent paint layers — which bend and refract light like a prism. Lowe’s artistic practice is the result of extensive laboratory research, most recently during a residency at the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station in the Arctic. 

Lowe is interested how colour comes into being from the interplay between light and matter — the alchemy of how life is formed from the intertwining of the immaterial and material. The Structural Colour Paintings morph in response to environmental stimuli, such as movement, reflections, and light. The works appear first only as dark surfaces, suddenly sparking into colour as the observer approaches. The mirror-surface merges the viewer’s reflection with these shifting kaleidoscopic landscapes. 
 
Lowe trained at Factum Arte & Factum Foundation, Madrid, before completing her studies at the Academy of Fine Arts Helsinki, where her MFA degree show ('23) was given the Anita Snellman Award. Her works have been exhibited at Huuto galleria, Helsinki (‘25); B-galleria, Turku (‘24); Galleria Rajatila, Tampere (‘23); and Galleria Paperihuone, Hämeenlinna (‘22). She has recently completed her first public commission, after winning the Hotel GLO Art competition. Currently, Lowe is working with a grant from the Finnish Cultural Foundation for upcoming shows at Forum Box (‘26), Helsinki and the Finnish Institute in Madrid ('26).

 

Image: He gave his lips in vain, 2025. Photo: Laura Lowe.