Lauretta Jo McCoy

Lauretta Jo McCoy is an artist whose work explores the intersections of ancestry, memory, spirituality, and cosmic consciousness. Born and raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she draws inspiration from the red clay landscapes of the American South, African diasporic traditions, sacred geometry, and decades of meditation and spiritual practice.

Working primarily in mixed media, McCoy creates luminous, layered compositions using acrylic paint, gold and silver leaf, glitter, and reflective materials. Her paintings weave together geometric forms, symbolic imagery, and radiant fields of color to explore themes of healing, resilience, joy, and interconnectedness. Throughout her practice, light functions as both a visual element and a spiritual metaphor - a force capable of illuminating personal and collective transformation.

McCoy studied art at the University of the District of Columbia and later attended the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. She furthered her studies through the Pantone Color Institute, earning a certificate in Color Theory under the guidance of internationally recognized color authority Leatrice Eiseman.

Recent exhibitions include Herstory in Hues at Honfleur Gallery (Washington, DC, 2025); Turning Tides: Action, Resilience, and the Mental Landscapes of Black and Brown Voices at Gallery B (Bethesda, MD, 2025); Free to Be Me at Stem & Vine Gallery (Washington, DC, 2025); KUUMBA IV at Neiman Marcus Tysons Corner (2025); and an exhibition at Children's National Hospital (Washington, DC, 2025).

Lauretta Jo McCoy creates paintings that explore the relationship between ancestry, memory, spirituality, and cosmic consciousness. Drawing on African diasporic traditions, the red clay landscapes of her Southern upbringing, sacred geometry, and decades of meditation practice, her work reflects an ongoing search for connection, healing, and transformation.

McCoy's artistic language was shaped by three foundational influences - the pencil portraits created by her uncles, who first revealed the transformative power of art; the red clay earth of her native  North Carolina, which awakened her sensitivity to color and the natural world; and a lifelong commitment to meditation and spiritual inquiry, which continues to guide her practice today.

She paints to uplift. Each canvas is conceived as an offering; a place of reflection, possibility, and renewal. Through layered compositions of color, geometry, symbols, and light, McCoy explores resilience, joy, ancestral memory, and the unseen forces that connect human experience across generations and cultures.

Working in mixed media, she builds richly layered surfaces using acrylic paint, gold and silver leaf, glitter, and reflective materials chosen for their ability to capture and transmit light. Circular forms, mandalas, geometric structures, cosmic orbs, and symbolic motifs recur throughout her work. Some paintings are rooted in the warm reds and oranges of Southern clay, while others expand into celestial blues, silvers, and luminous fields of color suggestive of infinite space.

Grounded in the cultural memory of the American South while reaching toward universal questions of belonging and interconnectedness, McCoy's work invites viewers to pause, reflect, and imagine new possibilities for healing, abundance, and collective well-being.