Since completing her BFA at the Michaelis School of Fine Art in Cape Town in 2011, Chaplin has presented various solo exhibitions including Swamp (2022), Mouth (2018), Under a Boiling River (2017), and Binding Forms (2016), with WHATIFTHEWORLD Gallery in Cape Town as well as Twister (2021) and Underbelly (2019), with No Man’s Art Gallery in Amsterdam. She has also extended her painting practice into printmaking, hosting a mini exhibition of monotypes from the series, The Making of a Sharp Blade (2017), in collaboration with Warren Editions, Cape Town. Chaplin has completed artist residency programmes at Fountainhead Residency, Miami (2023), where she won the Fountainhead Residency Artist prize, as well as Cité Internationale Des Artes in the Marais district, Paris (2018), Nirox Arts Foundation in Johannesburg, South Africa (2016) and at OBRAS Foundation in Alentejo, Portugal (2015).

In 2022, Chaplin presented a solo booth at Artissima in Turin, Italy with WHATIFTHEWORLD, Cape Town, South Africa, and her works have been included in various group presentations at Art Joburg, The Investec Cape Town Art Fair, and Miart, Milan (2023). Mia Chaplin’s paintings and sculptures have been placed in numerous international private and public collections, including Spier Arts Trust (South Africa), Lam Museum (The Netherlands), and Francesca Lavazza Collection (Italy).