BIO

Chenta Laury is a Maui-based artist and educator whose practice explores the expressive potential and living intelligence of natural materials, honoring the cultural traditions that inform them and the transformations they inspire. Merging heritage, process, and concept, her practice fosters dialogue between past and present, material and meaning, tradition and innovation.

Originally from O‘ahu, Laury spent 15 years in New York working in art and education, including at the Guggenheim Museum and as Head of Education at The Noguchi Museum. She holds a BA in art history and studio art from Oberlin College, a master’s from Harvard University, and a Certificate in Applied Arts from the Fiber Crafts Studio.

Her work has been exhibited in the Hawai‘i Triennial (HB2019), the Honolulu Museum of Art, and the Schaefer International Gallery, and is held in collections including Capital Modern (Hawai‘i State Art Museum), and the Hawai‘i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. Featured in Fiber Art Now (Summer 2024) and a 2024 Joan Mitchell Foundation Fellowship finalist, Laury’s practice—rooted in slow, transformative processes—intertwines African-American, Finnish, and Hawaiian traditions to explore belonging, adaptation, and transformation.

Education

  • Kapa Making with Dalani Tanahy & other master practitioners, Maui & O’ahu, HI

  • Fiber Crafts Studio, Certificate in Fiber Arts, Chestnut Ridge, NY

  • Harvard University,  M.Ed, Cambridge, MA

  • Oberlin College, BA, Major: Art History / Studio Art, Minor: Political Science, Oberlin, OH

Current & Upcoming Shows

  • 2027 Three-person show — Honolulu Museum of Art, Honolulu, HI

  • 2026 Reimagining Landscape — University of Hawai’i, Hilo, HI

  • 2026 Reimagining Landscape — Wilmer Jennings Gallery, NY, NY

  • 2025 Crossing Processes — NARS Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Juried, Group & Solo Exhibitions

  • 2025 “Shifting Views” — Bernay Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA

  • 2024 “Fiber Reimagined” — Gravers Lane Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

  • 2024 “Adaptive Frameworks”, Solo Exhibition — Kahilu Gallery on Hawai`i Island

  • 2023 “Adaptive Frameworks”, Solo Exhibition — Schaefer Int’l Gallery, Maui Arts & Cultural Center

    • Video about show & process HERE.

  • 2023 “Paper is People: Decolonizing Global Paper Cultures” — Minnesota Center for Book Arts Minneapolis, MN

  • 2022 “Pu’uhonua” — Donkey Mill Art Center, Kona, HI

  • 2022 “Spring Forward” — Bernay Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA

  • 2022 Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror: Reem Bassous, Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI

  • 2021 “Mixing It Up” — Bernay Fine Art, Great Barrington, MA

  • 2021 The Visible Hand: Hawai’i Craftsmen Statewide Exhibition — curated artist — Honolulu, HI

  • 2020 “Alternative Dimensions”, Bernay Fine Art — group show — Great Barrington, MA

  • 2019 Honolulu Triennial — Honolulu, Hawai’i — March-May, 2019

  • 2018 "Reaching Out", Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2018 Contemporary Invitational Show, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2018-2022 Four Seasons Artists Showcase - Artist-in-Residence Program

  • 2017 "Light in the Dark", Sears Peyton Gallery, Chelsea, NY

  • 2017 Celebration of Hawai'i, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2017 Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror: Duncan Dempster, Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI 

  • 2016 "Accession" - Art in Public Places Collection, Hawai's State Art Museum, Honolulu, HI 

  • 2016 "Uniques", Schaefer International Gallery, Kahului, HI

  • 2016 "Art Maui", Schaefer International Gallery, Kahului, HI

  • 2016 Contemporary Invitational Show, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2016 Celebration of Hawai'i, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2016 "Dreaming of Nature", Honolulu Museum of Art, First Hawaiian Center, Honolulu, HI

  • 2015 “Malama Wao Akua”, Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI

  • 2015 "Art Maui", Schaefer International Gallery, Kahului, HI

  • 2015 "10 by 10", Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI

  • 2015 Contemporary Invitational Show, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2015 Celebration of Hawai'i, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2015 Schaefer Portrait Challenge, Schaefer International Gallery, Kahului, HI

  • 2015 Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror: Charles Cohan, Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI 

  • 2014 "Relationships and Collaboration", Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2014 Celebration of Hawai'i, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2014 Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror: Wendy Kawabata Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI

  • 2013 "Uniques", Schaefer International Gallery, Kahului, HI

  • 2013 Solo Artist Exhibition, Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI

  • 2013 "Celebration of Hawai'i: Hula New Visions", Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2013 Annual Juried Exhibition, Juror: Lauren C. Faulkner, Hui No'eau, Makawao, HI

  • 2012 “Infinite Blue”, Hui No’eau Visual Arts Center, Makawao, HI

  • 2012 “Malama Wao Akua 2012”, Viewpoints Gallery, Makawao, HI

  • 2009 Sears Peyton Gallery, Chelsea, NY

AWARDS

  • 2021 Diane Chen Koch Weser Award for Collaborative Work — Hawai’i Craftsmen Statewide Exhibition

  • 2015 Juror's Choice Award — "10 by 10, Hui No'eau". Jurors: Gabrielle Anderman & Tim Garcia

  • 2015 Runner up, People's Choice Award — "Schaefer Portrait Challenge"

  • 2015 Juror's Choice Award — "Hui No'eau Annual Juried Exhibition 2015". Juror: Charles Cohan

  • 2012 People’s Choice Award — "Mālama Wao Akua 2012 ", Viewpoints Gallery

PRESS + MEDIA