About Me.
Charlene is a self-taught abstract and portrait artist based in Alberta, Canada. Her work explores the interplay of delicate colour, emotion, and form through intuitive mark-making. Over time, her work has evolved into a dynamic exploration of female portraiture and abstract expressionism, using calming pastels and electric neons to navigate themes of identity, social inequalities, and power dynamics.
Her artistic journey began in 2010 after completing a brief introductory acrylic class at her local art centre, where she first discovered her passion for painting.
Between being a full time social worker and caring for her autistic son, Charlene finds time for her passion to paint in those silent moments when her son is asleep.
Charlene’s work has been exhibited in Female Gaze group show at The Paint Spot (2024), Capital City Arts display at the Edmonton Public Library (2024), the 5 Artists 1 Love group-exhibition at the Art Gallery of Alberta (2025), and a solo exhibition at the YWCA’s Peck Visual Arts Program (2025).
Artist Statement.
Charlene Johnson’s paintings are an exploration of softness, identity, and joyful self-expression. Working with expressive brushwork and vibrant palettes, she creates portraits and abstracts that center BIPOC women in their full emotional range. Her work challenges the “strong Black woman” trope, offering instead a space for tenderness, beauty, and playful femininity.
Through each painting, Charlene invites viewers to embrace vulnerability as strength, and to see the quiet power in joy, delicacy, and freedom. Her process is intuitive and expressive—a reclamation of softness and a celebration of being unapologetically seen.
My paintings are a love letter to the little moments of joy that remind us to live freely.
