Laura Paolini (she/her) currently lives in Ottawa, unceded and unsurrendered Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation territory. Her artwork is primarily conceptual and manifests through installations, videos, and performances, often unfolding where these forms meet, merge and collapse. Paolini’s work strives to create hybrid spaces, which point to the larger social matrices that are relational and informed by recent political and social history.
Paolini has exhibited in various Canadian institutions including Hamilton Artists Inc, The Ottawa Art Gallery, and Art Mûr during the 17th edition of Fresh Paint/New Construction (2021). She recently performed during PERF; a performance art Biennale hosted by AXENÉO7 (evening curated by Anna Khimasia and Thomas Grondin).
In addition to a history of exhibition, Paolini has had parallel careers as an arts administrator, programmer, bike shop employee and hotel cleaner, all of which inform her practices subtleties, pace and tempo. As described by Jakub Zdebik, “...these instances are present in the work of Paolini in an optimism that looks back at a traditional institutional past and sees beyond the constraints without having the necessary open terrain that could lead to full-on belief in the future.”
Paolini earned an MFA from the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Ottawa (2021). In addition to previously published writing, she is currently a member of the editorial committee for Peripheral Review, an independent platform for critical and experimental art writing in Canada. Her video works are distributed through Vtape (Toronto).
Jakub Zdebik, “Bodies with Objects in Space through Screens: Casual Virtuality and the Self-Mediation of Laura Paolini’s Constraining Aesthetics” in Screen Bodies The Journal of Embodiment, Media Arts, and Technology. Volume 6 issue 2. December 2021. 100 https://doi.org/10.3167/screen.2021.060207
Paolini has exhibited in various Canadian institutions including Hamilton Artists Inc, The Ottawa Art Gallery, and Art Mûr during the 17th edition of Fresh Paint/New Construction (2021). She recently performed during PERF; a performance art Biennale hosted by AXENÉO7 (evening curated by Anna Khimasia and Thomas Grondin).
In addition to a history of exhibition, Paolini has had parallel careers as an arts administrator, programmer, bike shop employee and hotel cleaner, all of which inform her practices subtleties, pace and tempo. As described by Jakub Zdebik, “...these instances are present in the work of Paolini in an optimism that looks back at a traditional institutional past and sees beyond the constraints without having the necessary open terrain that could lead to full-on belief in the future.”
Paolini earned an MFA from the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Ottawa (2021). In addition to previously published writing, she is currently a member of the editorial committee for Peripheral Review, an independent platform for critical and experimental art writing in Canada. Her video works are distributed through Vtape (Toronto).
Jakub Zdebik, “Bodies with Objects in Space through Screens: Casual Virtuality and the Self-Mediation of Laura Paolini’s Constraining Aesthetics” in Screen Bodies The Journal of Embodiment, Media Arts, and Technology. Volume 6 issue 2. December 2021. 100 https://doi.org/10.3167/screen.2021.060207