A woman with long brown hair, wearing a white t-shirt and a gold necklace with a rectangular pendant, standing in front of an abstract multicolored background with a textured pattern.

About Laura Shape

Biography

Laura Shape is an environmental fine artist who transforms invasive species into museum-quality abstract paintings with conservation-linked impact across rivers, reefs, and wetlands. She paints on leather made from invasive lionfish removed from Caribbean reefs, invasive Burmese python from the Florida Everglades, and invasive carp from freshwater systems. Each material carries its own ecological story, but the experience of the work remains the same: refined beauty, rich texture, and a calm, luminous presence.

Because the materials come from real removal efforts, each artwork reflects a tangible reduction of an ecological threat. Understanding the ecological story is optional. You can simply choose the work for its beauty, and let that be enough. The impact is embedded in the material itself.

Her work has appeared in Smithsonian-affiliated exhibitions and UN Ocean Decade–endorsed programming, and is held in private collections. She collaborates with collectors and partners through commissions and special projects that merge craftsmanship with measurable ecological action.

She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

Exhibitions

  • 2025 - Under the Sea, group exhibition, endorsed by UNESCO’s United Nations Ocean Decade, Moku Art Studio

  • 2023 - Wild Muse: Animals in Art, Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, In Association with the Smithsonian Institution, Solomons, MD

  • 2023 - Breaking Ground: Art about the Earth, Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center, In Association with the Smithsonian Institution, Solomons, MD, (Juror: Anna Davis, Fellow at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)

  • 2022 - Nature, an international juried exhibition, online at LightSpaceTime Gallery, (Jurors: Chris and Valerie Hoffman, gallery owners)

  • 2022 - Primary Colors, an international juried exhibition, online at LightSpaceTime Gallery, (Jurors: Chris and Valerie Hoffman, gallery owners)

Awards

  • 2023 - Juror’s Award winner. (Juror: Anna Davis, Fellow at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center),  "Breaking Ground: Art about the Earth"

  • 2022 - Special Recognition for the 3 Dimensional Category (Jurors: Chris and Valerie Hoffman, gallery owners), "Nature"

  • 2022 - Fifth Place Award for the 3 Dimensional Category (Jurors: Chris and Valerie Hoffman, gallery owners), "Primary Colors"

Public Engagements

  • 2025 - Live painting activation, International SeaKeepers Society Founders Event, Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show (Pier Sixty-Six, Fort Lauderdale, FL) (view case-study)

  • 2025 - Presenter, 11th World Conference on Ecological Restoration (SER2025), Society for Ecological Restoration, Denver, CO 

  • 2025 — Presenter, Central Park Artists group: “How to use AI for your art career”

Selected Press

For a brief overview of the ecological framework behind the materials, see Make a Difference Through Art.

Commissions

  • 2025 - Two custom lionfish-leather award artworks commissioned by International SeaKeepers Society (presented to Jimmy Buffett, SeaKeeper of the Year, and Emily Cunningham MBE, NextGen Award)