Laura Thipphawong

What Program did you graduate from and when? 

Visual and Critical Studies Honours BA and a minor in Drawing and Painting in 2016 

What is your current title or role? (ie. freelance designer, art practitioner, etc.) 

A Practicing Artist with Coldstream Fine Art Gallery, and Postsecondary Coordinator at a private school 

Why did you choose to attend OCAD U? 

I started working after high-school and although I gained valuable life-experience, I was not on the career path that was meant for me. After careful consideration, I decided to devote my life to art and research, and so I applied to OCAD U for the purpose of immersing myself in the academic art world.  
 

Please briefly describe your current job/practice. 

I have always been someone who needs to multitask in order to feel invigorated, so my current position is working well for me. I am working a full-time day job as an administrator, consulting on postsecondary education and directing programs and projects at a private high-school, and I balance this with the fluctuating demands of my art career. There are periods where I will paint for forty hours a week on top of my day job; usually, this happens for the six months leading to a solo exhibit. The months before commencing an intensive painting schedule are spent doing my research writing, an integral element of my artistic practice.  
 

How did you get started in your career?  

It has been a long and winding road, we’ll put it that way. This is a tricky question because I took a very non-linear path regarding my career and education. I have been a self-taught artist since the age of twelve when I first started oil painting, and I had my first solo exhibit when I was nineteen, but due to illness, I was not able to focus on or pursue my art career whole-heartedly until much later. However, after graduating from OCAD U I ended up getting a lot more attention for my art. I then did my Master's of Art History at the University of Toronto, and this has allowed me to pursue my research further while opening doors into a career in the administrative and academic world. 

What were your policies regarding internships, volunteering, and paid work? 

I volunteered for things that I thought would be good learning experiences, like being the student representative for the human-centered research committee at OCAD U. I also did an internship at a non-profit where I had some great experiences. I think volunteering and interning is a great idea as long as those hosting you are treating you ethically. I would have done more of it had I not been working during school.  

           
What do you enjoy most about your work? What is the most challenging aspect of your work? 

I love that I get to do what I NEED to do, and that is to delve into my creative work and express myself as a means of catharsis. One of my favorite things about my work is that I get to present my research papers at symposiums and conferences internationally. I love that I can explore my work in critical theory and that I have found a way to harmonize that with my painting practice. The most challenging aspect is finding the time to do it.  
 

What skills or relationships developed at OCAD U helped you participate in your field? Is there anything you would have done differently? 

I saw an exponential rise in my painting skill level after two years at OCAD U. I knew that putting myself in the position where being dedicated to art would help, and it was clear after I started that OCAD U was exactly where I needed to be. My writing also took a sharp upturn, and it was liberating to be able to take deep dives into the research topics that interested me. Sometimes I wish I had gone sooner, but I wasn’t ready to go sooner, so aside from that there is nothing I would have done differently.  
 

What are the key responsibilities you maintain for your practice?  

I have a lot of hard deadlines, and that is what comes with being a practicing artist. I have to write statements, create presentations, and most importantly, produce bodies of work within a given time frame. Being diligent and organized is paramount to being a successful artist, and I cringe when people associate artists with flakiness or volatility. 

What are your personal and professional goals for the coming years? 

I have always studied environmental science, both in my spare time, and electively in university, but going forward I plan to incorporate this more into my work. I am an avid outdoor explorer and am working to formulate a new methodology wherein I blend my experience with mountaineering with an investigation into geology and evolutionary biology in order to create my next body of work.