Louise Laplante’s work is very introspective. Her pastels reflect her relationship with the materials she is using and explore those creatures whose interactions with that world are pure and simple. Her oil stick pieces extend this exploration with color and texture and her collages allow her to create worlds of her own.Her pastels are inspired by her attraction to old paper for its contents, its images, and its aged beauty. They employ the stains, discoloration, stray marks, and creases on these old sheets that give them a richness not possible with new paper. She uses stencil-like silhouettes worked densely on the existing text or music notes on the paper that form their backgrounds. Working in collage allows for free association, using vintage periodical and book images to create discrete worlds merging image, color, and placement. They play with concepts and redefine reality. Their elements are combined intuitively sometimes with an idea of what she wants to achieve and sometimes just letting the elements themselves drive the image, one thing leading to another.There is always something of a surrealist element to collage, letting logic and reality go. These works are driven either by the text in a chosen element or by the configuration of that element. The results are pictorial “dreams,” bits of reality recombined to produce a new free form invented world.She is exploring her continuing fascination with black birds and how they move in the world in her oil pastels. Using simple shapes as landscapes or simple color backgrounds in vibrant hues complement the dark black birds as they interact with that world. 2023Microworks, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MassachusettsSmallish, Bromfield Gallery, Boston, MassachusettsAs They Saw It: Women Artists Then & Now, D’Amour Museum of Fine Art, Boston, Massachusetts and Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown, New YorkNothing Permanent, Dartmouth Cultural Center, South Dartmouth, MassachusettsUsed, Attleboro Art Museum, Attleboro, MassachusettsStrut, ArtsWorcester, Worcester, MassachusettsRed, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, Massachusetts2022Looking Back Now - Louise Laplante, Laconia Gallery, Boston, MassachusettsSummer Show, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkMixed Media Show, Dover Art Association, Dover, New HampshireCorporal Gestures – An Exhibition of Contemporary Collage, School of Architecture, Portland State University, Portland, OregonCollage: Departures and Adaptations – Nan Fleming and Louise Laplante, Anchor House of Artists, Northampton, MassachusettsDodge and Burn, ArtsWorcester, Worcester, Massachusetts2021Looking Forward, Carter Burden Gallery, New York, New YorkRevitalized, Stove Factory Gallery, Charlestown, MassachusettsVariations, Marblehead Arts Association, Marblehead, Massachusetts2020Natural Worlds, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkNational Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, Cambridge, MassachusettsProvidence National, Providence, Rhode IslandThe Newport Annual, Newport Art Museum, Newport, Rhode Island2019Creatures Big and Small, GR Gallery, Stamford, ConnecticutCollage, Site: Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New YorkMediums of Exchange, Lehman College Art Gallery, Lehman College, CUNY, Bronx, New York2018Figures We Fancy, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkShelter, A.P.E., Northampton, MassachusettsMaterial Flow: Rhythm in Collage and Sculpture, Pratt Gallery, Goddard College, Plainfield, Vermont2017Abstractions in Black and White, Gallery 175, Pawtucket, Rhode IslandBlanche Ames, National, Borderlands, North Easton, MassachusettsFive Points Biennial, Five Points Gallery, Torrington, ConnecticutA Declaration of Sentiments: Reflections on the Centennial of Women’s Right to Vote in NYC, Athens Cultural Center, Athens, New York2016Winter Exhibit, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York2015Boston Biennial Four, Atlantic Gallery, Boston, MassachusettsDrawing, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkTaking Root: Caniskek and the Meeting of Two Worlds, Athens Cultural Center, Athens, New YorkNorth Northeast, Brattleboro Museum and Art Center, Brattleboro, VermontNBMMA 45th Exhibition, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut2014New Directions ’14, Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, New YorkConnecticut Women Artists – 85th National, Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, ConnecticutNew England Collective V, Galatea Fine Art, Boston, MassachusettsBoston Biennial Three, Atlantic Works Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts2013Storytellers and Conjurers, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York2012Works on Paper, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkDrawing, b.j. spoke Gallery, Huntington, New YorkStrange Glue, Thompson Gallery, Weston, MassachusettsSilhouette, A.P.E., Northampton, MassachusettsThe Cadence of Familiarity, Krauss Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island201120th Anniversary Exhibition, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkNew Works, Paper City Gallery, Holyoke, MassachusettsSmall Works, Towne Gallery, Wheelock College, Boston, Massachusetts2010Text/Context, McCoy Gallery, Merrimack College, North Andover, MassachusettsA Community of Artists, Danforth Museum of Art, Framingham, MassachusettsHere and Gone: Presence, Absence, Memory and Time, Amy H. Carberry Fine Art Gallery, Springfield Technical Community College, Springfield, Massachusetts2009Dreamscape, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York2008Small’08, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst, MassachusettsInteraction: Louise Laplante and Liz Chalfin, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst, MassachusettsArtists and Books, Art Complex Museum, Duxbury, MassachusettsOne Night, Pivot Gallery, Florence, Massachusetts200720 Artists x 2 Feet, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst, MassachusettsBiennial 2007, New Hampshire Art Institute, Manchester, New HampshireSalon, Clark Gallery, Lincoln, Massachusetts2006Small: 20 Artists x 2 Feet, Wunderarts Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts2004On Paper, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkEncaustics, Carrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New YorkNew Acquisitions, University Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts2003Hart Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts2002 The Belles of Amherst: Contemporary Women Artists in the Collection of the Mead Art Museum and The University Gallery, Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts1998Vessels: Louise Laplante and David Powers, Hart Gallery, Northampton, MassachusettsTen Women, Whistler House Museum of Art, Lowell, Massachusetts1997Self Portraits, Hart Gallery, Northampton, Massachusetts1996Painting Now, Bristol Art Museum, Bristol, Rhode IslandLouise Laplante, Milton Art Museum, Milton, Massachusetts1995New York: Louise Laplante, St. Germaine Gallery, Springfield, MassachusettsDrawings: Louise Laplante, Newspace Gallery, Manchester, ConnecticutSmall Works, Pump House Gallery, Hartford, Connecticut1994Sesquicentennial Celebration, Rice Gallery, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, New YorkTwo Artists, Cuneen-Hackett Cultural Center, Poughkeepsie, New YorkLarge Drawings – Louise Laplante, Canal Gallery, Holyoke, Massachusetts1998Louise Laplante, Geissler Gallery, Greenfield, MassachusettsDrawing Now, Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, Massachusetts1992Louise Laplante, Pindar Gallery, New York, New YorkLouise Laplante and Margaret Plaganis, Pump House Gallery, Hartford, Connecticut1991Small Objects, Nicole C. Gallery, Boston, MassachusettsThe Changing World, Pindar Gallery, New York, New YorkLouise Laplante – New Work, Nicole C. Gallery, Boston, Massachusetts1989New Artist: Gloria Winchler Memorial Exhibition, Currier Gallery, Manchester, New HampshireFigures and Faces, Gary Wortzel Fine Arts, Boston, MassachusettsLouise Laplante, Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts1988Paperworks, Clary-Miner Gallery, Buffalo, New YorkSmall But Monumental, Hera Gallery, Providence, Rhode Island1987The Subject is Water, Newport Art Museum, Newport, Rhode Island1986American Contemporary Women Artists, Gallery Triangle, Washington, DC1985Louise Laplante, The Gallery, STCC, Springfield, MassachusettsLouise Laplante – Works on Paper, Hampshire College Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts1984Works on Paper, F.A.C.E.T. Gallery, Taos, New MexicoWorks on Paper, 100% Realart Gallery, Spokane, Washington1983Louise Laplante, Springfield Central Gallery, Springfield, MassachusettsRope – Drawings by Louise Laplante, Main Street Gallery, Amherst, MassachusettsWomen Artist, Herter Gallery, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts1982Two Artists – Drawing, Gallery of Paper, Lenox, MassachusettsArtists Self Portraits, Pratt Gallery, Amherst, MassachusettsSmall Works, Passepartout Gallery, Winooski, VermontValley Artists ’82, The Gallery, Amherst, Massachusetts1982Invitational, Danco Gallery, Florence, MassachusettsBibliographyRed, Cambridge Art Association, exhibition catalog, 2023Curator’s Pick, Women United Art Magazine, January/February 2023, p. 139The Summer Show at Carrie Haddad Gallery, Art Spiel, Louisa Pancoast podcast, August 2, 2022Corporal Gestures, 2022, exhibition catalog, p. 133Exhibizone 2020, exhibition catalog, p.86Providence Art Club National Open, exhibition catalog, pp. 139-1402020 National Prize Show, Cambridge Art Association, exhibition catalog, 2020Mediums of Exchange, Bartholomew W. Bland, exhibition catalog, pp. 14-15“’Works on Paper’ Evokes Yesteryear at Carrie Haddad Gallery”, Amy Griffin, Albany Times Union, September 26, 2012Strange Blue: Collage at 100, catalog, essay Todd Bartell, 2012Creative Quarterly No 21, The Journal of Art and Design, December 2010“Louise Laplante: Here and Gone”, Paul Bloomfield, Art New England, April/May 2010“Burge, King, Laplante and Hammond at Haddad Gallery”, Hudson-Catskill Newspaper, Hudson, New York, November 8, 2009“On Paper”, Daily Freeman, Kingston, New York, July 2, 2004“’The Belles of Amherst’ Contemporary Women’s Art on View”, The Women’s Times, Northampton Massachusetts, August 2022“Two Artists, Shared Approach”, Gloria Russell, The Sunday Republican, Springfield, Massachusetts, August 2, 1998“Parker Gallery, Whistler House Museum of Art, Ten Women” Ellin Anderson, Art New England, June/July 1998“Art by “Ten Women””, Ellin Anderson, The Haverhill Gazette, Haverhill, Massachusetts, March 19, 1998“Variety in Whistler’s “Ten Women””, Otto Peter Erbar, The Lowell Sun, Lowell, Massachusetts, March 8, 1998“Faces of art’, Anne-Gerard Flynn, The Springfield Times Union, Springfield, Massachusetts, March 8, 1994“Six University at Albany Graduates at Rice Gallery”, The Daily Gazette, Albany, New York, January 20, 1994“At BCE Drawings Droll to Dramatic”, Christine Temin, The Boston Globe, Boston, Massachusetts, September 29, 2993Gloria Winchler Memorial Exhibition, catalog, essay by Marilyn F. Hoffman and Michael K. Komanecky, The Currier Gallery, Manchester, New Hampshire, 1989“Thinking Through Your Art”, Patricia Wright, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, Massachusetts, March 29, 1989“Art Scenes Offer Powerful Images”, Gloria Russell, The Sunday Republican, Springfield, Massachusetts, March 12, 1989“Small is Beautiful”, Bill van Siclen, The Providence Journal, Providence, Rhode Island, February 12, 1986“STCC/Springfield: Louise Laplante”, Art New England, November/December 1985“STCC/Louise Laplante”, Gloria Russell, The Sunday Republican, Springfield, Massachusetts, September 29, 2985CollectionsMERZ Gallery, Sanquhar, ScotlandKingsley and Company, San Francisco, CaliforniaMead Art Museum, Amherst College, Amherst, MassachusettsMuseum of Fine Arts, Springfield, MassachusettsThe Ontological Museum, Santa Fe, New MexicoUniversity Museum, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MassachusettsUniversity Gallery, SUNY Albany, Albany, New YorkPrivate collectionsAwards2008 Recipient, Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund2004 Finalist, Massachusetts Cultural Council Artists Grants, Drawing/Printmaking/Artist Books1998 Finalist, Blanche E. Colman AwardEducationMA in Fine Art, State University of New York at Albany, New YorkBFA, College of New Rochelle, New Rochelle, New YorkStudied, Art Institute of Boston, Boston, MassachusettsRepresented byCarrie Haddad Gallery, Hudson, New York