Laura Williams (b.1965, Palmerston North, New Zealand) is an established painter based in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.
Operating under the professional moniker "Taking the Pastiche," Laura has been exhibiting since 2013.
Her paintings unfold as an autobiographical visual stream of consciousness, shaped by an ever-expanding symbolic language that draws on art history, classical mythology, classic film, flora and fauna, landscapes, patterns, and symbols.
Laura has exhibited extensively, and her work is held in notable collections in New Zealand and overseas. She has been a finalist in several of New Zealand’s foremost art awards, received the Brian Perry Charitable Trust Painting Merit Award in 2020, and was selected for the New York-based Wassaic Project, Golden Foundation, and ChaNorth artist residency programmes.
Her work has featured in Hyperallergic, the New York based online arts magazine and is a featured artist on Aotearoa / New Zealand painters podcast, The Good Oil.
Most recently she was a finalist for the 2026 Aotearoa Music Awards, Te Taumata o te Toi | Best Album Artwork, for her intricate cover and gatefold paintings on New Zealand musician Tom Scott's multi-nominated solo album, ANITYA.