Laurel Petri (they/them) is a visual artist from Mount Airy, NC, skillfully blending surrealism and impressionism to craft narratives illuminating the human experience. As a queer, disabled artist deeply committed to social justice, Petri’s work is grounded in lived experience and guided by a belief in collective liberation.

Their identity is inextricably intertwined with the themes they explore—each piece reflects the complexities of navigating a world that often fails to accommodate difference.

Having a background in a wide range of artistic mediums, Petri creates projects with the medium that matches the experience and is ideal for the work of art.

Petri’s art is an act of resilience and calls for greater empathy, accessibility, and systemic change. By sharing their story, they create space for others to honor their struggles and triumphs, and to challenge the ableist, hetero, and cis normative structures that perpetuate shame, exclusion, and isolation.