Lea Carla Diestelhorst

Independent artist with a studio in Essen.

Doing primarily painting on canvas and paper and also painting murals.


Curator of RAUM55 (Exhibition and project space for contemporary art) in Essen.



2025
Lecturer in Painting at the University of Duisburg-Essen

2023-2025
Lecturer in Painting at Hochschule für Bildende Künste (HBK) Essen


My work explores the tension between density and openness, pressure and space. Through layered, gestural marks and translucent fields of color, I create compositions that oscillate between movement and stillness.

The repetition of abstract forms becomes a language. At times compressed and intense, at others breathing and expansive. I am interested in the moment in-between: where structure begins to dissolve and space starts to emerge.

Working primarily with acrylic on canvas, I build surfaces through layering, allowing traces of previous decisions to remain visible. This process reflects an ongoing dialogue between control and release.

Rather than depicting something concrete, my paintings invite viewers into an atmosphere: a state of transition, a quiet tension, a breathing space.

Studied Painting at the Hochschule für Bildende Künste in Hamburg
Under Prof. Werner Büttner and Prof. Hanne Loreck, Bachelor of Fine Arts

2012/2013
Erasmus Exchange Semester at École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris, France
Under Prof. James Rielly
"Art School Alliance" Scholarship by the Alfred Töpfer and Karl Heinz Dietze Foundation

2007–2012
Studied Painting and Graphics at the Freie Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Essen
Under Jan Erik Parlow and Nicola Schrudde, Diploma

2026

„Syntropy – Bring Your Own Beamer“
Gruppenausstellung, Het Salon x Upstream Gallery, Amsterdam, Niederlande

2025

„Fem.gazed - Afterglow“
Gruppenausstellung, 44309//Gallery, Dortmund

„Licht an!“
Jahresverkaufsausstellung, Kunstverein Unna

„Bring Your Own Beamer“
Gruppenausstellung, Künstlerzeche Unser Fritz 2/3, Herne

„Hood Cuisine im Bohnenkartell“
Einzelausstellung im Bohnenkartell, Witteringstraße 41a, Essen

„William Kentridge – Listen to the Echo“
Wandgestaltung, Museum Folkwang, Essen

Offenes Atelier im Rahmen der „Kunstspur“ in Essen
STUDIO DIESTELHORST, Essen

„REMMIDEMMI Kunstmarkt“
30.08.2025, zeitgleich zu den Hofflohmärkten in Rüttenscheid, RAUM55 und STUDIO DIESTELHORST, Essen

„In dem Moment“
Fassadengestaltung Rolltor, Künstlerzeche Unser Fritz 2/3, Herne-Wanne

"Fem.gazed Festival - feministisches Fassadenfestival“
Fassadengestaltung der „Bretterbude“ am Saalbau, Witten

„Evolution der Striche“
Einzelausstellung, VHS-Galerie, Herne Wanne-Eickel

„SCHLAGZEUG TRIFFT LEINWAND“
Projekt mit dem Schlagzeuger Simon Camatta
Gruppenausstellung im RAUM55, Essen

„SOUS-SOL deux“
Gruppenausstellung, Studio 242, Köln

„PAULA REGO – The Personal and The Political“
Wandgestaltungen, Museum Folkwang, Essen

„Kosmisches S...