Laura Vecmane

Laura Vecmane (b. 1982, Talsi, Latvia) is a multidisciplinary artist working across painting, ceramics, sculpture, and environmental art. She holds a Master’s degree in Painting from the Art Academy of Latvia (2012) and has studied in Denmark and Spain.
For fourteen years, Laura lived and worked in Australia, where clay, sculpture, and the vastness of the Australian landscape became central to her practice. The presence of Indigenous Australian culture deepened her understanding of land as a living material and a source of meaning. Her work during this period was recognised with awards including the Major Prize at Sculpture on the Edge (2018) and multiple Arts Queensland grants. The connection with Australia remains close.
Since returning to Latvia in 2023, Laura has settled in Gulbene, where she co-founded the ceramics community “Tālava Clayworkers". Today, clay has found its way into her painting — she creates landscapes using locally sourced earth pigments, returning to the land of her childhood with new eyes and new hands. Her work is a quiet conversation between the earth and the image, between memory and material.
Laura has received the Vilhelms Purvītis Scholarship (2008), the Ludolfs Liberts Scholarship in Painting (2008), ...

2012 — Art Academy of Latvia, Master of Fine Arts in Painting
2009 — Vraa Højskole, Analog Photography Course, Denmark
2008 — Art Academy of Latvia, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting
2006–2007 — University of Castilla-La Mancha, Faculty of Fine Arts, Erasmus Student Exchange Programme, Spain
2002–2004 — Latvian Christian Academy, Altarpieces, Icons, Graphics

Professional Development:

2026
• Professional development workshop “Painting with Clay” with ceramicist Līga Skariņa,
Beļava Manor, August
• Professional development workshop “Pit Firing” with ceramicist Linda Zelta, Beļava
Manor, August
• Erasmus+ studies “Innovative Teaching Methods”, Padua, Italy, March

2025
• Professional development workshop “Sculptural Forming” with designer Irita Tīlane- Pakalniņa, Gulbene Art School, December
• Professional development workshop “The Art of Creating from Nothing” with ceramicist Imants Klīdzējs, Gulbene Art School, November
• Professional development workshop “Vessels with Multi-Coloured Clays” with Laimdota Kliesmete, Gulbene Art School, November
• Professional development workshop “Clay Pouring Art”, Earthbender Studio, Estonia, October
• Professional development workshop “Vidzeme Ceramics with the Latgale Colour Palette” w...

Solo Exhibitions:
2026 — “Still Earth”, landscapes, Creative Space ISTABA, Lejasciems, Gulbene, Latvia
2025 — “A Different Landscape”, ceramics and paintings, One Artwork Gallery, Plungė, Lithuania
2025 — “Peace and Symmetry”, Gulbene Railway Station Art Studio, Gulbene, Latvia 2021 — “Retrospective exhibition” Open Studios Sunshine Coast, solo pop-up gallery, Maleny, QLD
2017 — “Inspirations”, Lift Gallery, Maleny, QLD
2009 — “Journey”, Vraa Højskole Exhibition Hall, Denmark
2008 — “Postcards and Déjà Vu”, Latvian Society House, Sydney, NSW
2006 — “From Inspiration and Poetry”, Talsi Regional Museum, Talsi, Latvia
Group Exhibitions
2026 — “Slow Time”, duo exhibition with artist Sandra Dikmane, Stāmeriena Palace
2025 — “Rebirth”, Gulbene Region Ceramics Community Exhibition, Stāmeriena Palace
2024 — “The New Current”, Gulbene Region Museum of Art and History
2024 — “Naturally”, duo exhibition with painter Neonilla Medvedeva, Stāmeriena Palace
2023 — “Synchronicity”, The Zone Gallery, Maleny, QLD
2023 — “Field Notes”, The Zone Gallery, Maleny, QLD
2022 — “Local Artist Local Content (LALC) Finalists Exhibition”, Caloundra Regional Gallery, QLD
2022 — Open Studios Sunshine Coast, joint exhibition with sculptor Janna Pameijer...