Laura Hathaway (b.1988, Birmingham, UK) is a contemporary British painter working from her studio on the Isle of Wight.

Laura studied at Falmouth University, graduating in 2011 with a BA in Textile Design, specialising in hand embroidery.

In 2013 she was selected for the year-long Jubilee Stores Start Up Studio Residency, supported by Quay Arts and funded by Arts Council England. The residency, shared with artist Howard Hardiman and guided by mentor Jonathan Parsons, gave Laura the opportunity to develop her early experiments with three-dimensional painted works on glass. The programme culminated in the 2014 exhibition Line & Shade, which also received support from Arts Council England.

Laura has since exhibited regularly and received her first public commission in 2016 at K6 Gallery, Southampton. In 2017 she was shortlisted for the Jerwood Artist Bursary and presented new work in I’M IN THE GARDEN, a public installation curated by Jo Hummel-Newell and supported by Ryde Arts Festival and Arts Council England. Her installation Disorder II was also presented during an illuminated carnival event.

In 2018 Laura was nominated and shortlisted by the Jerwood Charitable Trust as an exceptional early-career artist. During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 she received support from the Arts Council Emergency Response Fund, and in 2021 was awarded a Developing Your Creative Practice grant from Arts Council England for her project I Grow, continuing her exploration of layered glass painting and sculptural form.

In 2022 Laura was selected for the Ryde Arts Residency, supported by Arts Council England and Ryde Town Council, where she developed the performance-based paper installation Ten. She was also commissioned to create the public artwork No Ball Games, funded by the Arts Council Jubilee Fund and the Isle of Wight and Hampshire Trust, and received a fully funded photographic commission with artist Julian Winslow through the Isle of Wight Creative Network.

Saatchi Art and The Other Art Fair selected Laura to present new work at the 2023 Summer edition of the Kings Cross Art Fair. She was also invited to participate in the group exhibition Wish You Were Here, curated by artist Jo Hummel at Peer Studios during Ventnor Fringe.

Laura’s first solo exhibition and accompanying residency, Drip Splatter Smear, opened in May 2024 at the Michael West Gallery, Quay Arts.

Alongside her studio practice, Laura has developed a growing body of co-produced public art projects working collaboratively with communities and young people across the Isle of Wight. In 2023 she was commissioned to create a series of place-responsive public artworks with young people across the island, supported by The Island Collection, IW CEP, Artswork, the Isle of Wight AONB and National Lottery funding.

Most recently she was commissioned as one of the artists for Landed, part of the Can You Hear Us? programme, funded by Arts Council England and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and supported by English Heritage, National Trust and Forestry England.