Recent Work: Carolina Cortella

Chandler Gallery is pleased to present a new exhibition of ceramic works by Argentine-American artist Carolina Cortella, on view from December 6th, 2025 through January 31st, 2026. An opening reception will be held on Saturday, December 6th from 5 to 7pm. All are welcome to attend.

Carolina Cortella’s practice blends slow craft with poetic intuition, drawing from her background in film and photography to shape ceramics that feel cinematic in their spatial awareness and emotional tone. Rooted in natural forms, architecture, art history, and the clay’s own materiality, her pieces blur the line between art and everyday function, inviting the viewer to pause, reflect, and engage with objects that quietly transform their surroundings. This exhibition includes functional vessels and lighting, in addition to small wall sculptures.

In this body of work, Cortella foregrounds organic form, subtle texture, and an elegant simplicity that channels a wabi-sabi sensibility to explore her experiences of femininity. She embraces imperfection, tactility, and the quiet beauty of handmade things as she shapes each object by hand, guided by intuition and the clay’s response to her intuition. The result is a collection of ceramics that respond to light and space: soft contours and soft glazes catch ambient shadows, shifting as the viewer moves around them. Cortella's practice considers the intersection of craft, memory, and domestic ritual: her vases, vessels, and sculptural pieces evoke intimate narratives of use, presence, and quiet contemplation.

Originally from Buenos Aires, Cortella received a BFA in Film Direction from Fundacion Universidad del Cine. She continued her creative career in Los Angeles for over a decade, as a director and, later, as a ceramicist. Her work has been featured in Artforum and exhibited in Los Angeles, Paris, and Buenos Aires. Today, Cortella works from her studio in the hills of Mill Valley.