Larissa Laban (b. 1996, Cabo Frio, Brazil) is a Brazilian visual artist and designer based in São Paulo. Her practice spans airbrush, oil painting, and ceramics, and is defined by textured, energetically rendered figures set within pared-back, suspended environments. Drawing from both design and fine art traditions, Laban constructs visual worlds that feel simultaneously intimate and uncanny, where atmosphere and psychology take precedence over narrative clarity.
Across her work, figures inhabit liminal spaces shaped by kitsch objects, softened architecture, and closed systems. These environments suggest places of isolation and adaptation-worlds governed by their own internal logic. Laban's characters often appear self-contained, navigating solitude with quiet resolve rather than overt drama. This restraint allows subtle emotional cues to emerge through posture, gesture, and surface rather than expression alone.
Her use of color and material plays a central role in this tension. Deep, resonant tones are balanced by moments of softness and density, creating compositions that oscillate between presence and absence. Airbrushed gradients and layered paint contribute to a sense of suspension, as if time within the image has slowed or momentarily paused. In her ceramic works, this same sensibility translates into tactile form, extending her visual language into physical space.
Laban's practice invites viewers into spaces of quiet mystery, where meaning is not prescribed but gradually revealed. By resisting resolution and embracing ambiguity, her work opens room for contemplation-allowing latent narratives, emotional undercurrents, and psychological depth to surface organically. Through this measured and immersive approach, Laban continues to develop a body of work that is introspective, atmospheric, and deeply attuned to the subtle complexities of human presence.