Chora Luz Carleton
My practice centres on sensory perception connected to spatial arts theories of atmosphere, phenomenology, and durational experience informed by Deleuze’s philosophy on affect. I often use colour and material to highlight the nuances of duration and bodily experience found in the everyday or normative sites. Recent works have taken on new materiality and scale with the inclusion of pastels into my primary watercolour practice. My current explorations combine the two mediums to create a visual miasma of colour, which uses the layering and smudging of the pastel media to employ a transparency. These aesthetic mimics the densities of how we perceive moments in mindfulness while the watercolour develops structure and line as planes of encounter with surface and object. These visual languages attempt to tease out the strands of familiar experience that are often hidden from us in the cacophony of the mundane.
My research into what it means to be a sensory organ, as well as to be mindful and neurodiverse, have led me to understand and work with direct, site-situated observation of place and phenomena with acuity and abstraction. I have found that the use of abstraction and colour leave open the possibility of relating to our environment more poignantly and generate a moment of potential transformation for viewers. As a spark of creative adrenaline or a moment of zen, my work aims to provoke a bodily spatial experience grounded in the senses and emotion to place.
I am a Wellington based artist of European decent. I studied at Massey University, graduating with a Master of Fine Art with distinction in 2018. Since then, my work has shown at several exhibitions within Wellington City.
Materials:
Pastels
Watercolour paper
Zeta paper
Mulberry paper
Cotton paper
Watercolour paint
Guache paint
Waterbased printing ink
Typewriter ink
Silk organza
Linen
Artichoke leaves
Rose petals
Reclaimed Rimu
Reclaimed Cedar
CV
Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honnours 2016 Massey University
Masters of Fine Arts with Honnours 2018 Massey University
Shows
2024
#FFFFFF
Group Exhibition at Twentysix Gallery
Working with photography, painting, watercolour and textiles, #FFFFFF is a salon celebrating colour-rich small-scale works showcased to run through during the vibrant Newtown Festival. Full of saturation, energy and focused intensity. The exhibition features work of six Wellington artists: Chora Carleton, Erica van Zon, Suzanne Lustig, Bastiaan van Druten, Chloe Mason, and Petra Scheuber.
2022
Thickets and Clearings
Exhibition at Twentysix Gallery
In an explorative in situ installation, Chora Carleton presents Thickets and Clearings. Created in the gallery, the mural like drawing expands day by day. The work responds to what happens within the gallery as well as what is observed through the panoramic windows. Carleton’s approach resonates with the experience of the everyday. She gathers sensory misfunctions and fixations on colours, creating fragmented abstractions that are translated into swathes of colour punctuated by sharp lines.
Idea Journal
Commissioned for journal cover artwork.
2021
TOI360 Residents Exhibition
Cash and Carry show of residents art as and end of year celebration.
2019
Wrote
Academy of Fine Art Parkin Drawing Prize 2019 Finalist
2018
Gloaming
Debut solo exhibition at Toi Pōneke Art Centre.
A exploration of the state of seeing in semi-darkness the work presented was both text, image and space.
Exposure 2018
Exhibition at Massey University
Final exhibition celebrating the graduates of the Collage of Creative Arts at Massey University.
These things are different
Exhibition at the Engine Room
Masters first year assessment exhibition. Each student had approximately 48 hours to show a work in progress towards their Masters project.
Upon Palmyra
Art and Poetry Book by Dr Tim Brennan
Between
Exhibition at Thistle Hall
Collaboration between Tyler Jackson and myself. Self-initiated and funded. We showed a selection of colour field abstract sculpture/paintings and colour field/sound paintings as a discussion of the interaction between the oppositional practices.
Qualisign
Self-Published Art and Poetry Book
Held in the National Library Archives
Euphotic
Academy of Fine Art Parkin Drawing Prize 2016 Finalist
We’re Not Dead
Exhibition at Caughley (store)
A group show with Will Bennett, Lauren Collinson, Chora Carleton, Molly Lewis and Tim Brennan as part of a student exhibition for our core paper. The exhibition was developed around the idea that painting today is being reinvigorated by a generation of young painters. A small booklet was also produced with the same name.
Exposure 2016
Exhibition at Massey University Wellington
Final exhibition celebrating the graduates of the College of Creative Arts at Massey University.
Between the Pages
Exhibition at In Good Company Space
4 x colour
Exhibition at Massey University
A group of four colour field and abstract painters and makers, showing our work as part of a student exhibition for our core paper. Included: Tyler Jackson, Josephine Jelicich, Lauren Collinson and Chora Carleton.
Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honnours 2016 Massey University
Masters of Fine Arts with Honnours 2018 Massey University
Shows
2024
#FFFFFF
Group Exhibition at Twentysix Gallery
Working with photography, painting, watercolour and textiles, #FFFFFF is a salon celebrating colour-rich small-scale works showcased to run through during the vibrant Newtown Festival. Full of saturation, energy and focused intensity. The exhibition features work of six Wellington artists: Chora Carleton, Erica van Zon, Suzanne Lustig, Bastiaan van Druten, Chloe Mason, and Petra Scheuber.
2022
Thickets and Clearings
Exhibition at Twentysix Gallery
In an explorative in situ installation, Chora Carleton presents Thickets and Clearings. Created in the gallery, the mural like drawing expands day by day. The work responds to what happens within the gallery as well as what is observed through the panoramic windows. Carleton’s approach resonates with the experience of the everyday. She gathers sensory misfunctions and fixations on colours, creating fragmented abstractions that are translated into swathes of colour punctuated by sharp lines.
Idea Journal
Commissioned for journal cover artwork.
2021
TOI360 Residents Exhibition
Cash and Carry show of residents art as and end of year celebration.
2019
Wrote
Academy of Fine Art Parkin Drawing Prize 2019 Finalist
2018
Gloaming
Debut solo exhibition at Toi Pōneke Art Centre.
A exploration of the state of seeing in semi-darkness the work presented was both text, image and space.
Exposure 2018
Exhibition at Massey University
Final exhibition celebrating the graduates of the Collage of Creative Arts at Massey University.
2017
These things are different
Exhibition at the Engine Room
Masters first year assessment exhibition. Each student had approximately 48 hours to show a work in progress towards their Masters project.
Upon Palmyra
Art and Poetry Book by Dr Tim Brennan
2016
Between
Exhibition at Thistle Hall
Collaboration between Tyler Jackson and myself. Self-initiated and funded. We showed a selection of colour field abstract sculpture/paintings and colour field/sound paintings as a discussion of the interaction between the oppositional practices.
Qualisign
Self-Published Art and Poetry Book
Held in the National Library Archives
Euphotic
Academy of Fine Art Parkin Drawing Prize 2016 Finalist
We’re Not Dead
Exhibition at Caughley (store)
A group show with Will Bennett, Lauren Collinson, Chora Carleton, Molly Lewis and Tim Brennan as part of a student exhibition for our core paper. The exhibition was developed around the idea that painting today is being reinvigorated by a generation of young painters. A small booklet was also produced with the same name.
Exposure 2016
Exhibition at Massey University Wellington
Final exhibition celebrating the graduates of the College of Creative Arts at Massey University.
2015
Between the Pages
Exhibition at In Good Company Space
4 x colour
Exhibition at Massey University
A group of four colour field and abstract painters and makers, showing our work as part of a student exhibition for our core paper. Included: Tyler Jackson, Josephine Jelicich, Lauren Collinson and Chora Carleton.