SERIES: Meld Form

Jeremy Carter is the curator behind a new series, Meld Form. Centered on collaboration between artist and curator, Carter spotlights local Chicago artists by exploring installation and display, often using found objects or items already in the artist’s possession.

Through each collaboration, Carter explores how context and display can further activate the viewer experience. By experimenting with installation concepts, presentation, and play within the makers space, the series both deepens Carter’s understanding of each artist’s process and intent and shines a light on Chicago’s creative community. Together, artist and curator invite new perspective through immersive environment-building around the work.

In this iteration, Carter explores the nostalgic tone of Saylor’s work through found objects and personal objects from the artist.

TITLE: Along the Way

Charlotte Saylor is a Chicago-based artist whose practice involves collecting, composing, and painting. She forages for discarded objects such as cardboard or VHS tapes, arranging them in unexpected ways while still allowing for their previous forms to linger. The color, texture, and rhythm of the paint, whether it’s oil, acrylic, casein, or encaustic, recontextualize these objects, framing and holding them with care.

Charlotte grew up in Montclair, New Jersey, and graduated from the University of California, Davis, in 2019 with a BA in Art Studio. In 2020, she moved to Florence, Italy, for an artist residency at the Santa Reparata International School of Art where she began experimenting with unconventional painting materials such as wine and olive oil. This experimental approach continued and accelerated in her practice at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC), where she received her MFA in the Painting and Drawing department in May 2025. After graduating, she was awarded the Teaching Fellowship in Painting and Drawing at SAIC.

Her artwork has been exhibited at EXPO Chicago, Secrist Beach Gallery, No Instructions Gallery, the Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art, Patient Info, Ivory Gate Gallery, The Club, Purple Window Gallery, ARC Gallery, .liminal.projects., Art City, Union Street Gallery, Howling Pages, the Dittmar Memorial Gallery at Northwestern University, and SAIC Galleries. Charlotte’s work is published in Secrist Beach’s Masterclass Exhibition Catalogue, which includes essays by Lisa Wainwright and Michelle Grabner.

One Night Only Opening/Closing: September 17th 5:30pm-9pm