Laura Watters (b. 1989, San Francisco, CA) makes oil paintings that challenge and distort conventional narratives of femininity, identity, and addiction through the exploration of psychological turmoil depicted in charged imagery culled from various forms of popular media. Watters portrays women on the verge— their internal conflicts made visible through a subtle glance, a tense gesture, a gulp of booze, a pointed gun, a collapse. Struggling and resilient, fragile and powerful, Watters’ subjects exude desperation and transcendence in equal measure, creating a deep and unsettling tension that the artist leaves deliberately unresolved.

Laura Watters received a BFA in Art History and Fine Arts from George Washington University in 2011 and completed a Special One Year Program at Otis College of Art and Design in 2016.

She has presented solo exhibitions including Killing the Angel in the House at Karpidas Collection, Dallas (2025), Final Girl at Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles (2021), and Hand Jobs at Des Pair Books, Los Angeles (2021).

Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including The Come Up at Sade, Los Angeles (2026); TRAD at Free Parking Space, Los Angeles (2026); Self Portrait Show, Fetish, and May Flowers at Flower Residency, Los Angeles (2025); Bozo Mag Booth at NADA, Miami (2024); More Than Now at Moosey Art, London (2024); Nouveau Bozeaux at BOZOMAG, Los Angeles (2024); Body Double at Ketabi Boudet, Paris (2024); Dreamland at Delgado Projects, Los Angeles (2024); L.A. Woman at Phillips x Penske Projects, Los Angeles (2023); A Walk at Omni Gallery, London (2023); Haus Parte at Carlye Packer, Palm Springs (2022); Impact: LA for Choice 2022 at Anat Egbi, Los Angeles (2022); The Notice Show at Seasons, Los Angeles (2022); Particolored Chatter at Allouche Gallery, Los Angeles (2022); Spiritual Art Advisory at Greenpoint Terminal Gallery, Brooklyn (2021); We’re Just Havin’ Fun at Bill Brady, Los Angeles (2021); Anxiety 2 and Public Access at HVW8 Gallery, Los Angeles (2021, 2020); exhibitions at Big Picture Gallery, Los Angeles (2020); It’s a Trap at That That Gallery (2019); Untitled at 123 Astronaut Gallery (2019); Forming at Sneeze Mag, Miami (2018); Best in Show at That That Gallery, Los Angeles (2018); Good Taste at Something Special Studios, New York (2018); Daisies at Public Arts, New York (2018); Soft Bodies at Werkartz, Los Angeles (2018); The Belly and the Members at Cob Gallery, London (2017); Anxiety at HVW8 Gallery, Los Angeles (2017); and Oh, There’s No Alternative at Hou Yee Chan Gallery, Los Angeles (2016).

Watters’ lives and works in Los Angeles, CA with her two cats and giant dog. Her work has been exhibited internationally and most recently thirteen large scale paintings have been acquired by the prestigious Karpidas Collection in Dallas, Texas, with an accompanying solo presentation alongside Cindy Sherman.