about LAUCHLAN
LAUCHLAN studio is a fine art atelier located in southeast Tennessee.
Lauchlan Davis Sky (b. 1996) grew up in Tennessee with a lifelong love of color and story. Since 2018, Lauchlan has worked as a professional artist specializing in oil painting and figurative abstraction. Lauchlan studied Art History and English at the University of Virginia (‘18) in Charlottesville. After working for five years in Charleston, SC, she moved to her Chattanooga hometown in 2023 to pursue painting full-time.
Lauchlan’s artwork has been featured in exhibitions at the Frist Art Museum, Hunter Museum of American Art, Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto, and the University of Virginia, as well as featured in the publications Post & Courier, UVA Today, and British Vogue. She has received the Award of Distinction from the Fairhope Arts and Crafts Committee and a Merit Award at the Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Exhibition. Lauchlan is a current member of Chattanooga's AVA and the Tennessee Craft guild.
Artist Statement
Through painting, I observe the confluence of landscape and culture within the local imagination of the American South. My work focuses on the nature of community and collectiveness, examining the dynamic relationships between personas and how these interactions unfold into stories.
The paintings celebrate themes of togetherness, difference, and whimsicality within our contemporary local moment. Loose vibrant brushwork keeps the eye on that bright silky edge between representation and abstraction. My artwork aims to maintain both a quiet whimsy and a playful seriousness.
Positioned at the evolving intersection of abstraction, impressionism, and folk art, my work reinterprets traditional painting styles to create something uniquely modern. I integrate tilted perspectives and dynamic puzzles from abstraction, bright tones and textured brushwork from impressionism, and the quirky imperfections and narrative voice of folk art to ensure that each piece tells its own compelling story.
Painting is both a pursuit of curiosity and a celebration of passion. When I first began painting, it felt as though I was discovering fluency in a language I had always known. The process brought me into a magic flow where practice felt like play. I sought to break my surroundings into fragments of color and shape, reassembling them into works that felt new and powerful and lovely.
A fundamental lesson I’ve embraced as an artist is the importance of trusting the process. The finished artwork emerges organically as I respond to each layer of color and line. Each brushstroke is a decision that leads us to the next one, and the magic of the painting is responding honestly to the artwork as it evolves. Painting requires a commitment to the present moment—avoiding shortcuts, embracing uncertainty, and letting the work unfold authentically. Mastery requires practice and practice requires time and time requires persistent trust in the process itself. So much of learning to paint has also taught me about living a life.
