About

Caroline L.A. Wheeler [CLAW] is a visual artist, contemporary art jeweller, material researcher and educator with an interdisciplinary practice evoking dialogue and mindful reflection on social constructs regarding human and environmental migration, movement, place and home in conjunction with value perception .

As a material researcher, she explores the time and displacement of matter in parallel with archival social histories. Philosophically driven, she engages with the language, ecology, strength, fragility and state change of her subjects. Her responses take form in object, image, performance, film and text.

Born in the UK, she is second-generation refugee on her mother’s side. Walking and periods of prolonged witness have become central to her practice, while a curiosity to explore the world has led to calling four continents her home. The experience of numerous geological and climate related occurrences - tsunami, wildfires, erosion and drought have added additional layers of material consciousness to her work and approach. As such, she actively seeks ways to eliminate material waste and favours the repurposing or recycling of material.

Selling her paintings while obtaining a BA in Cultural Studies and Media Communication from Bath Spa University, CLAW embarked on a corporate career in Learning and Organisation Development, successfully running her own global consultancy before pivoting to a full-time creative arts path as both practitioner and educator.

Trained in jewellery design at Holts Academy in London’s Hatton Garden, she further studied at Central Saint Martin’s, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation, Oxford University and the Royal Drawing School. She holds an MA Jewellery + Metal from the Royal College of Art and an MA Art and Material Histories from City and Guilds of London Art School. Her earlier studies in psychology and neurolinguistics also contribute to the engagement and dialogue she brings to her work. She is an active member global artist collective of ESC - Experimental Space Collective. Her work is exhibited internationally.