Jerry McLaughlin lives and works in the high desert landscape of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. He is best known for his powerful, rough, yet subtle pieces that reflect the architectureand surfaces, light and shadows of his surroundings. And those shadows are important. Always navigating the interplay between beauty and darkness, McLaughlin discovers beauty in shadow and then guides shadow towards beauty.

McLaughlin’s works are palpably physical, and their detailed textures invite close examination. We feel the urge to touch them. Some are built through an intensive working of dozens of layers of beeswax, paint, pigments, and ash. Others he builds using reclaimed wood, , asphalt, shingles, and other materials of construction and demolition. Deliberate in their minimalism, they arenonetheless intimate. He invites us to peer into their darkness and discern what is happening.

Mclaughlin weaves his love of poetry into his process, using insights drawn from language to enrich his work. The poetry of Federico Garcia Lorca, Edna St Vincent Millay, and Constantine Cavafy have been particularly important.

Though McLaughlin is a full-time artist, he initially trained as a pediatric critical care physician. Recognized as an expert in cold wax medium, he teaches extensively, across the US and abroad. In 2017, he co-authored, Cold Wax Medium: Techniques, Concepts & Conversations, the first ever comprehensive book on cold wax medium. The book won a 2018 International Independent Publisher Gold Medal and a 2018 International Book Award.

His work has been collected across the US and internationally and has appeared in many magazines and other publications. He is represented by Avivson Gallery in London, HG Contemporary in New York, and Casa Quieta in Mexico City.