About Jessica Laureano

Jessica Laureano is an Australian artist and designer working at the intersection of material culture, memory, and contemporary design. Her practice centres on the formal language of objects—how their shapes, functions, and histories carry meaning far beyond their material selves.

Influenced by her Portuguese heritage, Laureano draws from the quiet power of folklore, devotional artefacts, and domestic traditions. These references form an undercurrent in her work, informing an interest in threshold moments and the seen and unseen forces that shape a life.

Her practice is grounded in beeswax as a primary material. Responsive to heat, handling and age, wax records the process of its making and use. Its mutability allows it to carry associations of memory, ritual, devotion and protection.

Across her work, Laureano considers how objects can mark time, ritual and personal significance. Her practice gives weight to the everyday and to the intimate histories carried through material and form.

While informed by the past, Laureano’s studio is firmly contemporary. It prioritises clarity, considered making, and environmentally conscious production in a world where resources are increasingly finite.