Layan Shawabkeh was born in Jerusalem in 1986. She joined the Department of Architecture at Birzeit University in 2004, where she organized her first exhibition in 2005 under the title "Lawhat Ula" (First Paintings). In the following year, Layan presented a new collection of artworks titled "Mimma fi al-Rouh" (From What's in the Spirit), for which she won the Artistic Creativity Award from Birzeit University. She participated in the Young Artist of the Year 2008 competition, organized by the Abdel Mohsin Qattan Foundation (AMQF), and won the first prize for her artwork "Faqd" (Lost), which was shown at al-Mahatta Gallery in Ramallah, and then at the exhibition "Ajsad Hashsha" (Fragile Bodies) in 2009. She passed away on 13 December 2009.

The Layan Shawabkeh Collection contains several of her drawings, specifically her award-winning work "Lost", as well as a collection of her sketches and writings.