January 2025 letter
It’s been a while, but I’ve decided that it’s time to bring my newsletter back!
With the instability of social media apps these days, this feels like a more straightforward space to share my work with you.
Plus, now is a better time than ever to speak up and remind the world that trans voices will never be silenced 🏳️⚧️
Here’s what I’m up to this winter :
Exhibition views of my work in “Nuclear Family” at Griffin Museum, January 17 – March 30, 2025
Featuring works by :
Mengwen Cao, Jess T. Dugan, Yorgos Efthymiadis, Matthew Leifheit, Laurence Philomene, Anne Vetter
What makes a family? How do we define community? These fundamental questions are explored in the exhibition Nuclear Family, which re-imagines the concept of family, expanding our vision beyond traditional norms through the lens of LGBTQIA+ artists
Nuclear Family was conceived and created by curator and artist Katalina Simon, in collaboration with Crista Dix, Executive Director of the Griffin Museum, and exhibition designer Yana Nosenko.
Archival framed prints of my work available at Galerie COA
The exhibition is on view at the Griffin Museum from January 17 to March 30, 2025.
Opening night : January 23rd, 6 to 8pm - Winchester, Massachusetts.
I won’t be there in person, but I’ll be in the online panel discussion on Feb 27!
I am making new posters for the first time in 3 years! These posters will be 12x18 inches instead of the 11x17 size I’ve done in the past, printed on high quality sheen poster paper.
I am currently having a pre-order sale on these posters where I’ve marked them down 22$ in order to reimburse the printing costs. They are currently priced at 66 CAD and will go up to 88 CAD once the pre-order period ends, on Feb 1. (no code needed, the price is already marked down in my print store)
Get them at this price while you can, because they will never go back that affordable again after!
Poster 1 : Neon house, 2024. CMYK screenprint, made by hand in Montreal with my dad.
Please note that this poster is a scan of the original artwork (as pictured above), if you’re interested in my original screenprints, you can get in touch with : galeriecoa@gmail.com
Poster 2: Pony in pepto-bismol, sugar high, 2013. I made this image over 10 years ago and I think it aged like fine wine, I love it even more today than I did all those years ago. I made postcards of it back in the day but never posters, so now’s the time!
Poster 3: Lux in my childhood backyard, 2016. This is another older image of my friend Lux, from my first series of non-binary portraits. I have a print of this in my home above my desk, and now you can do the same!
Poster 4: Self-portrait at Nina’s vanity, Puberty, 2019. I got to make a large archival print of this image as part of my 2022 solo show at Galerie COA and loved how painterly it looked when printed! Now you can have a poster of it as well ~
These will all be ready to ship in February! But get them at the 22$ off pre-order price while you can 👀 pre-order ends on Feb 1.
And of course all my previous posters & merch are available as usual in my print store.
Last year I made the decision to go back to my roots with my commercial photography practice ; working directly one on one with my community, in a smaller and cozier home studio setting.
I started offering “pay what you can” / sliding scale photo sessions in an effort to make my practice more accessible.
Here are some of my favourite commissioned portraits from these sessions in 2024:
This year, I will be offering 4 of these affordable photo sessions per month. The photo sessions are 45 minutes each, taking place at my home studio (or outdoors when the weather allows).
You can respond to this email newsletter directly, or get in touch via email or instagram any time if you are interested, and I’ll send you the details.
I’m also always interested in bigger projects such as : creating album artwork for musicians and other artists, drag & burlesque, branding imagery for small businesses, creators & freelance folks, editorial work such as : portraits, still life/creative, environmental shots, and art documentation.
pictured above, in order: Xénia, Léa Janita, Dee, Emma & Marie, Apple, Sisi Superstar, Frankie / Envy the clown, Kaila, Shelby Trapid, Renee Yoxon.
Here is some of the latest merch I made for my patrons! Double-sided postcard + magnet 🧚♀️
I really want to grow my patreon community this year as it is my favourite place to share my new work! My patrons got to see this image + the entire process of screenprinting it back in April 2024 👀
You can join as an online friend to see all my exclusive content & work in progress, or get the pen pal / BFF tier to receive my new print packages every two months! (plus access to the online content).
Each package includes a letter, new double sided print, signed test print and exclusive merch (for bff tier only).
Subscribe monthly, or join for a year upfront to save 15% 🥰
Last but not least, I wanted to share with you a project that was a huge part of the last few years of my life!
Larry (they/them) is a feature-length documentary film on my artistic practice, directed by @kate_legault, which spans 3 years of my life as I produced & exhibited my project Puberty. It also looks at my photography practice overall, as well as my relationship to myself & my loved ones as a non-binary person.
It is probably the most vulnerable thing I’ve done, and it is scary to put myself out there like that but I do feel it’s a narrative that is needed right now, and I hope the movie will generate a positive impact on trans rights and acceptance.
In 2024 the film aired at the Calgary (Alberta) and Charlotte (North Carolina) film festivals, as well as the RIDM in Montreal. Thank you so much to everyone who showed up for the @ridm_festival screenings in November, and for all the love on the movie.
I will share more about upcoming screenings in my next newsletter!
xo
Laurence
ps - you can respond directly to this email!
see you in my next newsletter ~