For the past fifteeen years she has initiated various curatorial projects, participated in a variety of group and solo exhibitions and has been involved in community-based volunteer activism.
From 1994-1997 Laiwan was co-editor of Front Magazine. Her poetic and theoretical writing can be found in various arts and literary publications.
OF CHINESE ORIGIN, Laiwan is an interdisciplinary artist and writer who was born in Harare, Zimbabwe. She emigrated to Canada in 1977 to leave the war in Rhodesia.
A graduate of Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, Laiwan started the OR Gallery in 1983. She recently received her Master in Fine Arts degree at the School for Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University.