Chiasma explores the duality at the core of Laura Sharp Wilson’s work—organic elements in both human and botanical form as well as the visual tensions of converging patterns, chains, and bound knots. In biology, “chiasma” is the process through which paired chromosomes remain united throughout the first phase of meiosis before genetic material is exchanged.

This exhibition explores the chronology of Wilson’s process from her in-depth study of textile design, to later apprenticeships in the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia, to her present practice. While Laura is known for her multimedia artistic process that ranges from public art, installation, and performance art, Chiasma highlights selections of her signature acrylic paintings on mulberry paper alongside never-before-exhibited works to tease the connections made throughout the artist’s multifaceted career.

About the Artist

Laura Sharp Wilson is a multimedia artist whose practice is focused primarily on painting, but also includes, sculpture, outdoor installation, public art, curation, and performance art. Wilson received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She also studied surface pattern design at North Carolina State University and served as an apprentice at the Fabric Workshop in Philadelphia. In 2018 she was a resident at the Golden Foundation in New Berlin, New York. Wilson was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1965 and grew up in northern New Jersey and New York city, she currently lives and works in Salt Lake City, Utah.

About the Curator 

Scotti Hill (she/her) is a Utah-based art critic, curator, and lawyer. In addition to teaching art history at Westminster College, she is a regular contributor to 15 Bytes: Utah’s Art Magazine and Southwest Contemporary and has written for Hyperallergic, Deseret News, New Art Examiner, and the Center for Art Law.