Charlene is a Chinese American artist based in Chicago, Illinois. At the School of the Art Institute, she began her practice painting with oils, creating vivid portraits that explore personality, emotion, and identity. She later shifted toward jewelry and functional art. In her return to painting, she did so with a refreshed approach that embraces water-based media and a deep connection to the natural world. Her practice is defined by a prolific exploration of watercolor, accumulating an expansive body of experiments that fuel her mixed-media works. While she celebrates the beauty of nature, she also feels a pressing obligation to address the damage humans inflict on the environment. As her awareness of plastic pollution and the failures of recycling increases, Charlene seeks ways to reduce her own plastic use and to transform the plastics she does use along with other single use items. Such as but not limited to: plastic that wraps our food and household items; Synthetic cotton that fills our pill bottles; Styrofoam; Mesh bags from produce; Tag fasteners; Silica gels; Hanger loops; Used dryer sheets, masks, cotton swabs used for painting; Old paintings; Left over scrap book paper, fabric trims, beads, string and artificial flowers. In her studio she incorporates these unconventional materials into layered compositions. Charlene weaves together elements drawn from our environment to illuminate the impact of plastics and global warming, inviting viewers to reconsider consumption and care for the world around us. Her work blends sculptural elements and painting, challenging viewers to see the familiar through a transformative, environmentally conscious lens.