Bio

Sirena LaBurn (she/they) is a non-binary, ambiguously brown artist based in Houston. They have a background in oil painting but are currently exploring ceramics, printmaking, and sculpture. Born in southeast Texas in 1986, they earned their MFA in Painting from the New York Studio School (2014), and their BS in Arts Administration from Wagner College, New York (2009). Before beginning their MFA, LaBurn worked as the Collections Catalogue Assistant at the Stark Museum of Art, Orange, Texas. 

LaBurn is interested in diverse perspectives of the American West, the mythologies of the West, and historic as well as Hollywood western-wear. Increasingly, LaBurn co-opts hegemonic, masculine symbols of America, such as the cowboy hat, to undermine the perceived infallibility of such icons, while acknowledging the expansive histories that have always existed, but are continuously denied.

LaBurn has exhibited at Foltz Fine Art (Houston, TX), Valley House Gallery (Dallas, TX), Olympia Gallery (New York, NY), Pamela Salisbury Gallery (Hudson, NY), The Art Studio Inc. (Beaumont, TX), The Dishman Art Museum (Beaumont, TX). They are a member at the ceramics studio, Third Coast Clay.

LaBurn has a broad range of teaching experience. They assisted Graham Nickson in his internationally recognized Drawing Marathons and has regularly returned to Wagner College as a guest artist. From 2019-2021, LaBurn taught Drawing and Design courses as a Visiting Instructor and Adjunct Instructor at Lamar University, Beaumont, TX.