Larder is pleased to present the solo exhibition rastros by Los Angeles based Venezuelan artist, Luz Carabaño. Most known for her small-scale shaped canvas paintings, rastros is the first exhibition devoted to Carabaño’s drawing practice. The exhibition features a series of framed works on paper, two hand-bound books of drawings and a ceramic sculpture by the artist. rastros, Spanish for ‘traces’ or ‘trails’, makes reference to Carabaño’s sensitive use of mark-making and subtle renderings of remembered and encountered images, shapes and forms.

Hung in the gallery and throughout the domestic space, the series of framed works on paper moves between recognisably figurative images and more ambiguously abstracted shapes. The seven drawings, collectively entitled rastros, can both be viewed individually and in direct relation to each other. While the sparing use of line suggests an assured completeness within each work, the openness of the mark-making allows for relationships to form between the drawings.

Hand-bound by Carabaño, the two books, Libro Mango and Libro rosa, are displayed on the dining table of the domestic space. The artist carefully sources the books’ handmade paper, chosen for its particularly charged and rich quality. For Carabaño, the paper’s texture ‘fills up’ the so-called negative space “so that the drawing in its entirety is a touched object/surface/field”. Visitors are invited to sit at the table and go through the books themselves. Carabaño views this as an integral part of experiencing these works in the exhibition - the books should be handled and the material nature of the paper understood through direct touch.

In the gallery space, the drawing rastros: telaraña is accompanied by vuelo de cuatro, a ceramic sculpture depicting four butterflies which rests on a similarly shaped, handmade wooden shelf. The paired display foregrounds an intimacy between the two works whereby the rendering of an image or shape can be understood both in relation to and against the physical mass of a sculpture and the gestural line of a drawing.

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Luz Carabaño (b. 1995, Maracay, VE) lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. Carabaño holds a BFA in Studio Art from New York University (2017) and an MFA in Painting and Drawing from UCLA (2022). Recent exhibitions include of this world (two-person with Sydney Acosta) at CASTLE, Los Angeles, CA (2022); A Minor Constellation at Chris Sharp Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (2022); Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer at Make Room, Los Angeles, CA (2022); Unfoldings at April April, New York, NY (2022); Reimagined Landscapes at Calderón, New York, NY (2022); El papel aguanta todo, Capítulo 5 (refugio) at Diablo Rosso, Panama City, PA (2021) and Ni Aquí, Ni Allá at Dimensions Variable, Miami, FL (2019).


Luz Carabaño, rastros, 2022. Installation shot.


Luz Carabaño, rastros, 2022. Installation shot.


Luz Carabaño, rastros, 2022. Installation shot.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: silueta, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: el campo, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: un par, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros, 2022. Installation shot.


Luz Carabaño, Libro rosa, 2022. Handmade book, charcoal on Izumo Mingei Mitsumata pink paper and Suminagashi Origami sumi & blue paper, 8 x 6 inches, 20 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro rosa, 2022. Handmade book, charcoal on Izumo Mingei Mitsumata pink paper and Suminagashi Origami sumi & blue paper, 8 x 6 inches, 20 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro rosa, 2022. Handmade book, charcoal on Izumo Mingei Mitsumata pink paper and Suminagashi Origami sumi & blue paper, 8 x 6 inches, 20 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro rosa, 2022. Handmade book, charcoal on Izumo Mingei Mitsumata pink paper and Suminagashi Origami sumi & blue paper, 8 x 6 inches, 20 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro rosa, 2022. Handmade book, charcoal on Izumo Mingei Mitsumata pink paper and Suminagashi Origami sumi & blue paper, 8 x 6 inches, 20 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro Mango, 2022. Handmade book, color pencil on paper, 10.5 x 9 inches, 23 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro Mango, 2022. Handmade book, color pencil on paper, 10.5 x 9 inches, 23 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro Mango, 2022. Handmade book, color pencil on paper, 10.5 x 9 inches, 23 pages.


Luz Carabaño, Libro Mango, 2022. Handmade book, color pencil on paper, 10.5 x 9 inches, 23 pages.


Luz Carabaño, rastros, 2022. Installation shot.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: del mar, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: del mar, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros, 2022. Installation shot.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: revuelto, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: rejas, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: rejas, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros, 2022. Installation shot.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: teleraña, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, rastros: teleraña, 2022. Charcoal on handmade paper, 12.25 x 9.75 inches.


Luz Carabaño, vuelo de cuatro, 2022. Ceramic and wood, 5.5 x 16.5 x 6.25 inches.


Luz Carabaño, vuelo de cuatro, 2022. Ceramic and wood, 5.5 x 16.5 x 6.25 inches.


Luz Carabaño, vuelo de cuatro, 2022. Ceramic and wood, 5.5 x 16.5 x 6.25 inches.

Photos: Evan Walsh