Laini Nemett’s recent paintings and constructions piece together fragments of place to investigate ways of both conceiving and experiencing “home”.

Stairs, hallways, balconies, construction sites—details from interior and exterior spaces I pass through are the raw materials of my studio practice.

Extended time in various architectural cultures has shaped how I understand the idea of home. In São Tomé, Africa, collage-like architecture and organic urban growth allows each building to tell its own current narrative; in Baltimore, Maryland, buildings are bordered up and left as skeletons of a family’s history. In the boroughs of New York, old façades are painted away or torn down as new anonymous condo projects begin almost every day. I piece together fragments of place to investigate ways of both conceiving and experiencing “home”.

Artist Bio: Laini Nemett lives and works in Long Island City, New York. She received a B.A. from Brown University and M.F.A. from the Hoffberger School of Painting at the Maryland Institute College of Art. Nemett’s work has appeared in solo and group exhibitions in the U.S. and China. In 2012, she was awarded a Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant and received the “Young Artist Award” from the Bethesda Painting Awards. Recent residencies and fellowships include UCross Artist Residency and Jentel Artist Residency in Wyoming and The Alfred & Trafford Klots International Program in France. Nemett is an adjunct faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art.