"I like to get lost in the work. I continue to return to my art as a place of exploration and respite."

Victoria Charters is an interdisciplinary artist based in Santa Barbara, California, whose contemporary abstract paintings explore mood, movement, and the emotional resonance of landscape. Working primarily in acrylic, Charters approaches the canvas intuitively, sometimes completing works in a single concentrated session. Her process is physical and responsive, guided by gesture, rhythm, color, texture, and the unpredictable interactions between materials.

Her paintings occupy a liminal space between abstraction and landscape, evoking aerial perspectives, geological or manmade forms, water systems, and the shifting traces of human presence. Unconventional materials—including coffee grounds or reflective glass beads are often incorporated into the surfaces, creating works that invite close visual engagement.

Charters’ practice is informed by her background in acting, filmmaking, writing and architectural interior design, as well as a fascination with psychogeography: the ways environments shape personality, memory, and emotion. Ongoing series, including A Neutral Palette and Imagined Topographies, investigate different methodologies and themes.

Victoria holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History, English and Film from Melbourne University, Australia. Her work has been exhibited in galleries on the West Coast.