ARTIST STATEMENT

My artistic practice is an evolving conversation with myself and the world around me, an ongoing process of questioning, feeling, and reflecting. My work is rooted in identity—how it shifts, how it is perceived, and how it is expressed in public and private spaces. I create from the perspective of a Black woman whose life spans multiple cultural landscapes, from my upbringing in Syracuse, New York, to my creative practice in Glasgow, Scotland. This duality informs my exploration of belonging, self-worth, and the intersections of race, gender, and community. At the core of my practice is a deep engagement with emotion. I want my work to be felt as much as it is seen. I am drawn to the ways feelings manifest in the body, in movement, in repetition. Whether I am screenprinting, creating video work, or incorporating performance, I seek to capture fleeting yet profound moments—instances of joy, hesitation, realization, and release. Through layering and variation, my work builds on itself, much like memory, much like history. One image becomes many, each iteration slightly different, just as identity is both fixed and fluid.

I use screenprinting as a primary medium because of its inherent ability to multiply and transform. Starting with a single image, I create multiple versions, each unique yet connected. This process speaks to my understanding of community: no two individuals are the same, but we are linked by shared experiences, histories, and energies. The physical layering in my prints mirrors the layered nature of identity itself—there is always more beneath the surface. I see my prints as vibrant, living documents of self-exploration, each composition a negotiation of presence, visibility, and self-definition. Beyond printmaking, my practice extends into video and performance, incorporating movement and sound as essential elements of storytelling. Music, in particular, plays a crucial role. I am fascinated by the way rhythm, repetition, and pop-cultural references shape collective memory and self-perception. The way a song can transport us, unlock something within us, reflects the transformative potential of art. In my work, I use music and movement as tools to access deep emotional truths—an intimate look at the weight and joy of being seen.

Much of my work engages with moments of self-awareness—those split seconds when you catch yourself in the mirror, when a lyric hits differently, when a memory resurfaces unexpectedly. I want to create those moments for my audience, prompting them to pause, to reconsider, to feel. My work doesn’t always provide answers, but it does invite reflection. Sometimes that reflection comes with humor, sometimes with nostalgia, sometimes with unease. I embrace that range. Performance, for me, is an extension of printmaking, an act of embodiment. It allows me to step into my work fully, to animate the ideas and emotions behind the static image. My performances often incorporate gestures of repetition—movements looped, words echoed—mirroring the iterative process of printmaking and the cyclical nature of self-discovery. The body becomes both a canvas and a tool, a site of power and vulnerability.

My art is a space for relishing, self-love, and affirmation, but it is also a space for questioning. I am interested in the tension between presence and absence, between visibility and invisibility. How do we know ourselves? How do others see us? How do we hold space for all the contradictions of identity? These are the questions that guide my work, questions that cannot be answered in a single image or a single moment, but in a lifelong practice of making, feeling, and reflecting. Ultimately, my work is an invitation—to see, to feel, to pause, to reflect. It mirrors my own journey while offering a space for others to encounter themselves. Through print, video, and performance, I aim to create environments where self-expression is affirmed, where individuality and community coexist in harmony. My art is an act of self-recognition, a declaration that identity is fluid, layered, and ever-evolving. It is a reminder that we are all deserving of being seen—fully, authentically, and without compromise.

Curriculum vitae

BORN
Syracuse, New York, USA
Based and Works between New York and Glasgow, Scotland
B. 1993

EDUCATION
2018, The Glasgow School of Art, Master of Fine Arts (MFA), Glasgow, Scotland
2016, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), New York, NY
2015, Universitat Der Kunst Berlin, Foreign Exchange, Berlin, Germany

SOLO EXHIBITIONS | SCREENINGS | PERFORMANCES | COMMISSIONS
Upcoming, Solo Glasgow Print Studio, 2025
2024, NURTURE | TURTLE PARK, Tramway Beyond Walls Commission, Tramway, Glasgow Scotland
2024, Sandra George Commission, Craigmillar Now & GSA Exhibitions, Glasgow International
2023, WHAT A FEELING | ACT II, Take Me Somewhere Festival, Tramway, Glasgow,Scotland
2023, WHAT A FEELING | ACT I, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh Scotland
2021, REFLECTIVE JESTER: IT’S JUST A FEELING, CCA Glasgow, Glasgow Scotland
2020, FEEL THE MUSIC, TRAMWAY TV, INSTAGRAM
2019, DA BE A BE, Nick Cave: Call and Response, Dance International Glasgow, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
2019. ‘PR 4 US’ with Matthew Arthur Williams, LUX/BBC Now & Next Round 2, LUX Scotland, Glasgow Scotland
2018, CC TIME, Take Me Somewhere Festival, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
2016, ‘36-24-36 Feminine Essence: Betrayed by the Booty’, The Cooper Union, New York  

GROUP EXHIBITIONS | SCREENINGS | PERFORMANCES

2024
KEYLINE, Glasgow, Print Studio, Glasgow Scotland.
2023
The Printmaker's Art | Rembrandt to Rego, National Galleries of Scotland, Edinburgh Scotland
2022
Sunkissed, Kypseli Print Studio, Athens Greece
The International Exhibition of Art Books and Zines, Three Dimensional Arts and Moving Images, Bangkok Art & Culture Center, Bangkok, Thailand.
2021
Winter Salon, From the Studio, Studio Pavillion, Glasgow Scotland 
Fix 21, Catalyst Arts, Belfast, Ireland 
RESET, Jupiter Artland, Edinburgh, Scotland 
JOY RIDE, Hubris, Glasgow International, Glasgow, Scotland
Miraculous Noise, Viborg Kunsthal, Viborg, Denmark, March 
GIVE BIRTH TO ME TOMORROW, Artist Moving Image Festival, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
2020
Power Play : Invisible Lines, Digital Festival, Singapore
Being Present, The OGR - Officine Grandi Riparazioni di Torino, Turin, Italy
Cabbage, Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA), Glasgow, Scotland  
2019
Project XChange, Project X, Dance International Glasgow 2019, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
G • L • A  • N • Y • C : LOVE HANGOVER, David Dale Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
Shoot Your Shot, BUZZCUT Club Residency, The Poetry Club, Glasgow, Scotland
Saturday School, BUZZCUT Club Residency, Civic House, Glasgow, Scotland
Dare you do this? FFFF it!, Taiwan Gangshan Dist Contemporary Art Warehouse, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
The Bold Collective, Tron Theater, Glasgow,Scotland
YA DIG?!, ROST, Glasgow, Scotland
Mr. Mov 2 Video Art Festival, SantaGiulia Academy, Brescia, Italy
Aesthetica Art Prize, York Art Gallery, York, United Kingdom
Margaret Tait Contextual Screening: Everything is Everything, Glasgow Film Festival, Glasgow Scotland
Paracosmic Revenue, Transition Gallery, London, United Kingdom
2018
Grind Your Axe, Stereo Cafe Bar, Glasgow, United Kingdom
Bloomberg New Contemporaries, South London Gallery, London, United Kingdom
VIDEO ART FILM CLUB, Leyden Gallery, London, United Kingdom
Freeze Frame, Video Art Miden, BCK Film Symposium,  Athens, Greece
Klubben för konst och anti-konst, Cyklopen, Stockholm, Sweden
Dice Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
Self-Protection Manifesto Launch, ICA London, London, United Kingdom
JUNKSPACE: Tap For Sound, CABBAGE, The Seamore Neighbourhood Cinema, Glasgow, Scotland
ROMANTI-CRASH, Jupiter Artlands, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh, Scotland
Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Liverpool Biennale, Liverpool, United Kingdom
Video Art Miden Festival, Archaeological Museum of Messinia, Kalamata, Greece
MFA Degree Show, The Glue Factory, The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow Scotland
MFA Ones to Watch at citizenM, citizenM Hotels, Glasgow Scotland
Art Week Exeter, The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, AWEsome Art Space, Exeter, United Kingdom
The Green Room, GY Festival, Dornoch Project Space, Glasgow , Scotland
Video Delight, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland
TYVM presents You do you, do you, Thank You Very Much ,The Modern Institute, Glasgow, Scotland
In Residence, Glasgow School of Art POC Society, THE PIPE FACTORY, Glasgow, Scotland
International Women's Day Exhibition: Sister // Cister, THE OLD RED BUS STATION, Leeds, United Kingdom
CABBAGE, Centre of Contemporary Art, Glasgow, Scotland
NIBAHLE, Featured Performer, Gilmorehill Theatre, University of Glasgow, Glasgow , Scotland
2017
BUZZCUT//Double Thrills//December (BSL), BUZZCUT, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland
POWER PLAY, Winter Salon,The Concept Space, London, United Kingdom
DREEM ROOM, SMOCK Bureau, Adelaide, Australia
Artists’ Moving Image Festival 2017 - LUX Scotland, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
BLAME IT ON THE RAIN/TILL THE WORLD ENDS Screening, Fresh And Fruity Gallery, Wellington, New Zealand
LASS STRUGGLE, FiLiArt: Feminism, Class and ART, FiLiA Art Festival, London, United Kingdom
And What? Queer Arts Festival, Queer Art(isis) Now, ARCHIVE Gallery, London, United Kingdom
VIDEO SOCIAL CLUB #3: FAKING IT, VIDEO SOCIAL CLUB, Plymouth, United Kingdom
FAÇADE VIDEO FESTIVAL, Art Today Association - Center for Contemporary Art, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
'Artist Film Festival IV' The Bomb Factory Art Foundation, London, United Kingdom
Launch: London Summer Intensive Showcase, Camden Arts Centre, London, United Kingdom
‘eighthwonder’ 2017 Summer Show ‘Law of Identity’ , 44AD Gallery, Bath, United Kingdom
Sign On/Sign Off, Merz Akademie, Stuttgart, Germany
THE OTHER'D ARTIST/S, Transmission Gallery, Glasgow, Scotland
'MFA Interim Show 2017', The Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland
'Lights Out Listening Group' Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, Scotland
BACKGROUND '19 Black Student Union Alumni Exhibition, The Cooper Union, New York
This can only be thought of as a monologue within a dialogue’, ECA School of Art, Edinburgh, Scotland
2016
SUBMERGING: A Benefit Show for F2L: FREEDOM TO LIVE’, 41 Cooper Gallery, New York
2015
PhotoFeast Pin-Up Exhibition’  The New School: Parsons, New York
The Rehearsal’, Featured Performer, The Cooper Union, New York 
VERGING: A Benefit Show for The Audre Lorde Project’, 41 Cooper Gallery, New York 
Rundgang: End of Year Show', Universitat Der Kunst Berlin, Berlin Germany

ACQUISITIONS | PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow Scotland
National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh Scotland
University of Edinburgh
University of Warwick

RESIDENCIES
2023, Center For Somewhere, Take Me Somewhere, The Centre For the Less Good Idea, Johannesburg, South Africa
2022, Kypseli Print Studio, Athens Greece
2022, John Florent Stone Printmaking Residency, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh Scotland
2019 & 2023, Work Room Residency, Tramway, Glasgow, Scotland
2019, BUZZCUT Club Residency, Glasgow Scotland
2018, Creative Lab Residency, Centre of Contemporary Arts, Glasgow, Scotland
2017, London Summer Intensive, Camden Arts Centre & Slade School of Fine Art, London, United Kingdom

TALKS | PUBLICATIONS
2024, An Evening with Sandra George, GSA Exhibitions, Glasgow International, Glasgow Scotland.
2023, In Conversation with Alberta Whittle, WHAT A FEELING! | ACT I, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh Scotland
2021, In Conversation with Harold Offeh, REFLECTIVE JESTER: IT’S JUST A FEELING, CCA Glasgow, Scotland
2021, Artist Talk: REFLECTIVE JESTER: IT’S JUST A FEELING, Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow, Scotland
2021, Message In the Music with Zakia Sewell, Subcity Radio, CCA Glasgow, Scotland
2020, How to Act : That First Sensitive Stage of Becoming Acquainted, Map Magazine, Glasgow Scotland
2020, One Artist/One Work, PR 4 US, LUX Scotland, Glasgow Scotland
2019, TALK/SHOP, The Bold Collective, Scottish Youth Theater, Glasgow, Scotland
2017,  Collective Blackness, Black Radical Imagination, LUX Scotland,Talbot Rice Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
2016, ‘The Assembly+Rubber Factory’, Featured Artist, The Assembly,New York
2016,  "SENIOR SNAPSHOTS 2016: SCHOOL OF ART" , written by Angela Starita, The Cooper Union, New York

PRESS | FEATURES | REVIEWS
2024
SCOTTISH MENTAL HEALTH ARTS FESTIVAL, Remember 2 Replenish: self-care is an act of resistance, Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival.
2023
BBC | The Afternoon Show , Interview
BBC | The Culture Scene, Shorts: 5. Celebrating Black Sisterhood Through Art
THE SKINNY, Manifestin' Joy: Christian Noelle Charles at Edinburgh Printmakers
ALETHEA MAGAZINE, Christian Noelle Charles: “Printmaking, especially screen printing, is the foundation for everything I do in art now."
THE LIST, CHRISTIAN NOELLE CHARLES: WHAT A FEELING! | ACT 1 ART REVIEW – SELF-CARE AS AN ART FORM (****)
FLEMING COLLECTION | SCOTTISH ART NEWS, An Interview with Christian Noelle Charles
SCOTTISH CONTEMPORARY ART NETWORK, Artists Make a Better World: Christian Noelle Charles
FEST MAGAZINE, Interview: Christian Noelle Charles
SCOTSMAN, Art reviews: Nat Raha | Christian Noelle Charles (****)| There Is Something In The Way | Makeshift | Kiosk | Synthesis: Beyond the Human
ART MAG, A Portrait in Colour: Christian Noelle Charles at Edinburgh Printmakers
WIDEWALLS, Christian Noelle Charles Explores Racial Identity, Inequality and Care through the Black Feminine Lens
ALT A REVIEW, Artist Christian Noelle Charles explores racial identity, inequality and care through the Black Feminine Lens in new solo exhibition at Edinburgh Printmakers
THE INDEPENDENT, Beauty salon twist offers new perspective for art exhibition
THE GUARDIAN Dredging, destruction and date rape drugs: Take Me Somewhere’s daring performance art
2021
SUBCITY RADIO, Message in the Music: Christian Noelle Charles with Zakia Sewell - 25/10/21
2020
MAP MAGAZINE, HOW TO ACT: That First Sensitive Stage of Becoming Acquainted: Christian Noelle Charles talks with Adam Benmakhlouf

AWARDS
2024, Hope Scott Trust, Glasgow, Scotland
2023, Jerwood New Work Fund, United Kingdom
2022, John Florent Stone Residency Award, Edinburgh College of Art, Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh Scotland
2021, Shortlisted, Margaret Tait Award, LUX Scotland, Glasgow Scotland
2019, a-n Artist Bursaries, United Kingdom
2018, Longlisted selection for the Aesthetica Art Prize, York, United Kingdom
2018, Selected Artist for Bloomberg New Contemporaries 2018, London, United Kingdom
2018, Awarded an honorary membership to the Glasgow Sculpture Studios
2018, Most Engaging Work Award, POWER PLAY, Winter Salon,The Concept Space, London, United Kingdom
2017, A Nomination for a BLOOOM Award by WARSTEINER, Cologne, Germany
2012-2016, Full Tuition Scholarship, The Cooper Union, New York