Personal Stories

In Personal Stories, Laura Spector explores the intimate terrain of time, grief, loss, technology, and transformation. Drawing inspiration from turn-of-the-19th-century French poster advertisements — once used to promote art exhibitions, theatrical performances, and products with seductive visual narratives — Spector adopts their aesthetic structure to embed her personal experiences in plain sight.

Each painting serves as a veiled diary, composed from an internal monologue sparked by therapy sessions, lap-swimming meditations, the comfort of petting cats, and half-formed phrases scribbled on scraps of paper around her home. With humor, vulnerability, and a sense of unraveling, she imagines metaphorically turning herself inside-out — peeling back layers, drowning, catching fire, or shattering — in pursuit of meaning and connection in a chaotic world.

The noise of internal chatter builds into the foundation of each piece. When the pressure of trying to make sense of control becomes too much, she begins to paint.