BIO

BIOGRAPHY

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Charlene Steen is an abstract acrylic and monotype artist.  A graduate in Art from UCLA, she taught art and art history at California State University Long Beach, UCLA, and Van Nuys High School. She was also an art critic for Artforum Magazine and a number of small newspapers. 

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Her work has been exhibited at the Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Napa Expo (First Prize Winner), Benicia Arts, Palace of Fine Arts - San Francisco, Las Laguna Gallery, Novato City Offices Gallery, Sacramento Fine Arts Gallery (People’s Choice Award), Healdsburg Center for the Arts, Art Escape - Sonoma, O’Hanlon Center for the Arts - Mill Valley, Main Street Arts - Martinez, Art Cottage - Concord, Crocker Museum (virtual), Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery - San Ramon, Mare Island Art Studios, Orinda Library gallery, Quest Church - Novato, Bezos Restaurant - Novato, 2727 California Gallery - berkeley, HQ Gallery - Benicia, Gallery Route One - Point Reyes, and solo shows in the Napa Library and Galerie Valerie in Crockett.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I have been interested in all of the arts ever since I can remember.  As a child I was fortunate to travel much of the world and began to recognize the richness of our planet.

My acrylics are dynamic abstract expressions of my inner landscape.  Textures, movement, and colors all combine to produce an emotional visual image.  Paints are applied spontaneously with rollers and brushes.  Sawdust and wood bits explode over the surface.  Dots and drips further enliven the imagery. 

My concern for the planet has also let me to produce a series of abstract paintings using recycled materials, including packing materials, toilet paper rolls, banana peels, grape stems, egg cartons, etc.

My monotypes either incorporate human abstraction in a mystical unreal environment or are abstract, often using string and twine and occasional drawing, to delve into the inner world of the subconscious.

Still different are my drawings which incorporate body parts, animals, flags, etc. in a neo-Bosch-like aura.

Contact: CharleneSteenArt.com or csteen@charalan.com