Natan Lawson generates paintings that each appear like a hybrid between an intricately woven tapestry and a futuristic computer-generated image. His works are at once nostalgic and ultramodern, tactile and digital. They offer up familiar imagery in a frayed high-tech world.
Lawson collects and contemplates life’s remnants—culling motifs from his personal archive of needlepoint designs, alphabet charts, disposable plates, cursive homework sheets, and other domestic paper ephemera. The artist uses a custom-built Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine to translate these found visuals onto canvas. Holding a brush, a robotic arm paints one acrylic mark at a time according to thousands of lines of code. This grid-based meditative method recalls craft techniques like needlepoint, cross-stitch, and weaving. Monitoring and guiding the equipment, Lawson embraces rather than corrects the natural imperfections that paradoxically arise in automatic modes of production. He is part of a generation of contemporary artists who are investigating the fertile ground between the hand-made and the mechanical—ruminating in turn on other dichotomies between tradition and rebellion, order and chaos, death and rebirth.
My Process
My painting process begins with machines I’ve built to hold brushes, pens, and other tools, allowing me to translate digital images into physical form one dot at a time. These devices aren’t just tools—they shape the aesthetic and rhythm of each piece. I use them to slowly build layered surfaces that feel both precise and imperfect. The source material often comes from personal archives, historical references, or overlooked cultural fragments that carry emotional weight. Through this process, I try to evoke a sense of memory, place, and the quiet labor of looking closely.
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Natan Lawson received a BFA in Painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. His work has been featured in exhibitions at 11 Newel Gallery, New York, NY (2022, 2021); Rosenberg Gallery, Goucher College, Towson, MD (2021); Baltimore Museum of Art, MD (2020); and Resort Gallery, Baltimore, MD (2018), among others. Lawson’s paintings have been featured in multiple HBO productions and are represented in collections such as Kadish, Paris and San Francisco, CA; Fidelity Investments Corporate Art Collection, Boston, MA; and Capital One, McLean, VA. In addition to other honors, he received an Individual Artist Award from the Maryland State Arts Council (2016).
b. 1988, Baltimore, MD
Exhibitions
2026 – (forthcoming) TBD, Foyer Gallery, Richmond, VA (solo)
2025 – This Must Be The Place, Foyer Gallery, Richmond, VA (group)
2025 – The Pedestal Show, Baltimore Crit Club, MD (group)
2024 – Piggy Bank Show, Yowie, Philadelphia, PA (group)
2023 – Phat Of The Land, Arnold’s Gallery, Baltimore, MD (group)
2023 – Constellations, Tiger Strikes Asteroid with Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA (group)
2023 – Out of Order, Maryland Art Place, Baltimore, MD (group)
2023 – It’s Never Over, St. Charles Projects, Baltimore, MD (group)
2022 – Here In Spirit, The Church, NYC (group)
2022 – The Art That Be, 11 Newel Gallery, NYC (group)
2022 – Small Works, Soft Times Gallery, San Francisco, CA (group, forthcoming)
2022 – Bloom, 11 Newel Gallery, NYC (solo)
2021 – Some Of Its Parts, Rosenberg Gallery Goucher College, MD (solo)
2021 – Leaving Meatspace, BmoreVirtual, MD (group, virtual)
2021 – Colloquialisms, Steak Gallery, (group, virtual)
2021 – Child’s Play (series 1), Waldorf School of Baltimore, MD (solo)
2021 – Farmer’s Almanac, Cleo Gallery, GA (group)
2020 – Full Family, Seasons Gallery, LA (group, virtual)
2020 – Salon, Baltimore Museum of Art, MD (group, virtual)
2020 – Reflections on Spring, Top Cat Gallery, NYC (group, virtual)
2020 – The Unknowable Present, Chandi Kelley, (group, virtual)
2019 – Tactile Hallucinations, Cody Gallery, Arlington VA (group)
2018 – Home Sweet Home, Resort, Baltimore, MD (solo)
2018 – Noise Margins, Resort, Baltimore, MD (group)
2016 – ¡Splat!, Helikon Gallery, Denver, CO (solo)
2015 – The New Contemporaries, Gelman Gallery, RISD Museum, Providence, RI (group)
2015 – Senior Invitational, Woods Gerry Gallery, Providence, RI (juried)
2015 – Savers, Benson Gallery, Providence, RI (solo)
2015 – My Goodies, Memorial Hall Gallery, Providence, RI (group)
2015 – Wet, Trade Pop-Up, Providence, RI (group)
2015 – Secret Fleet, The Learning Collective, Providence, RI (group)
2015 – Transatellite, Expose Gallery, Providence, RI (group)
Education
2015 – Rhode Island School of Design, BFA, Painting
2006 – Baltimore School for the Arts, High School
Awards and Scholarships
2019 – Belle Foundation Grant
2019 – Light City Public Art Project “The Canopy”
2016 – Maryland Individual Artist Award (Sculpture/Installation)
2015 – Florence Leif Award
2014 – John A. Chironna Memorial Scholarship
Work
2009 to Present - Bike Powered Events LLC, Founder
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