Artist Statement
My creative process blends aesthetic awareness with social engagement and a deep respect for cultural legacy. I am particularly interested in exploring the evolution from pre-colonial African culture to the Africanisms that have been adapted within contemporary, multicultural societies. My work critically examines how social conditioning shapes our concepts of value, sense of place, and personal development, informing the theories that underpin my practice.
Through sculptural forms, I encourage introspection and principled perspectives. My work often juxtaposes the organic with the manufactured, highlighting the cyclical relationship between the past and present, and between ancient knowledge and contemporary challenges. Natural materials such as wood, reed grass, clay, soil, stone, and hair exist alongside repurposed items like wall lath, roofing tiles, crates, burlap coffee bags, rope, nails, cardboard, and recycled paper. This combination creates a metaphorical contrast between what is treasured and what is discarded.
Overall, my art embodies struggle and transformation, reflecting the ways we reconstruct our sense of self-worth. The materials I select are intentional: they symbolize aspects of identity that have been fragmented or dismissed, then pieced, bound, or molded into renewed forms, ultimately redefining what is valued.
Air 2024, 9 ft. x 8 ft. x 3 ft. Charmaine Spencer (American)
Art institute of Chicago, Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafric, December 15, 2024 -March 30, 2025
Spencer’s work will travel from Chicago to Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. After her work will travel to the Barbican Center, London and then to the KANAL-Centre Pompidou, Brussels where the exhibition will conclude in 2027.
Air 2024 was acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago for the DuSable Black History Museum's permanent collection. It is made of thesis, art and artist statements, poems, music, art images and written letters to the ancestors (shredded). African lost-wax filigree brass trade beads, vintage African lost-wax brass bell beads, brass wire, faux leather cord and gold paper.
Curriculum Vitae
Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Lives and works in Cleveland Ohio, USA
Education and Training
Bachelor of Fine Arts; Cleveland Institute of Art
Public Sculpture Fabrication; The Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH
Solo Exhibitions
2025 The Fifth Vessel; Transformer Station, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
2022 New Growth, Cleveland botanical gardens Cleveland, OH
2022 From: Seed To: Root, Sculpture Center Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2014 The Paper Tree, Cleveland Public Theater, Cleveland, OH
2008 A Place To Dwell Sculpture Center, Cleveland, OH
2004 Rising/Bound, Groop Gallery, Cleveland, OH
Group Exhibitions
2025-2027 Project a Black Planet: The Art and Culture of Panafrica,
The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
Museu d’Art Contemporani de, Barcelona
The Barbican Center, London
The KANAL-Centre Pompidou, Brussels
2025-2026 Ohio Now: State of Nature,
MoCa Cleveland, Cleveland, OH
Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH
2024 PRIZM Art Fair: in conjunction with Art Basel Miami Beach, Miami, FL
2022 Oh, Gods of Dust and Rainbows, Front International,
Triennial Exhibitions:
Akron Museum of Art
Transformer Station, Cleveland Museum of Art
Quaker Square, Akron, OH
2021 Cross Roads, Sculpture Center Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2019 seenUNseen, The Artist Archives of the Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH
2018 Amendment, CAN Triennial, Cleveland, OH
2015 The Female Perspective, The Gallery at Lakeland, OH
2012 EARTH, Seeds of A New Age, Full Circle, Cleveland, OH
2010 Journey, Ingenuity, Festival of Arts and Technology,
Veterans Memorial Bridge, Cleveland, OH
2007 48 Hours of Making Art, BK Smith Gallery, Painesville, OH
2006 AfroFuturism, Spaces Gallery, Cleveland, OH
2005 Women, Community and Culture, Sankof, Cleveland, OH
Awards
2022 FRONT Art Future fellow, FRONT International Cleveland Ohio
2020-2022 The Ohio Arts Council ADAP Grant, Columbus, OH
2018 CAN Triennial Exhibition Prize, Collective Arts Network, Lakewood, OH
2014 Annual Artist Tribute Award, Still Point Gallery
2010 Ingenuity Project Award, Ingenuity Fest, of Arts and Technology, Inc.
2009 Creative Workforce Fellowship, Community Partnership for Arts and Culture
2008 Window to Sculpture Award, the Sculpture Center
Public Permanent Collections
DuSable Black History Museum, Chicago, IL
Hilton Cleveland Downtown, Anderson / Miller, Ltd Cleveland OH
Putnam, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland OH
Selected Public Commissions
2024 The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL
2022 The Cleveland Public Theater
2012 The Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland
2009 Green City Blue Lake, Cleveland Museum of Natural History
Artist Presentations
2025 Voices Unbound: Art as A Catalyst for Social Justice,
Case Western Reserve University, Mandel School, Cleveland OH
2024 Artist in the Atrium, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland OH
2024 Cleveland Society for Contemporary Art, Cleveland OH
2012 West Side Catholic Center, The Expressive Arts Project, Cleveland, OH
2011 Next, presentation Cleveland Institute of Art Cleveland, OH
2011 Changing Tactics, presentation, PechaKucha Night,
The House of Blues, Cleveland, OH
2009 Building Bridges, Inc., Cleveland, OH / Tents of Hope’s “Painted Village”
Rally and Exhibitions:
In solidarity with the refugees of Darfur, Sudan,
National Mall, Washington, DC