About the Artist
Charlene Shih is a Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary artist working at the intersection of painting, installation, and moving image. Her practice maps the architecture of memory, treating the canvas as an archaeological site to excavate the shifting landscapes of personal history, cultural ritual, and lineage. Born in Taiwan and raised under the artistic influence of her mother—a traditional calligrapher and painter—Shih’s foundation in Eastern tradition deeply informs her contemporary practice. Following formal training at Otis College of Art and Design and the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), she pivoted toward contemporary installation, using physical space to interrogate the structures of home and belonging. Her career subsequently evolved through a thirteen-year tenure as an independent filmmaker, producing global narratives for international channels such as National Geographic. This period served as a formative "cinematic era," where she treated moving images as a long-term project of mapping the emotional and metaphysical landscapes of the human soul.
Today, working from her studio in West Los Angeles, Shih transfers the narrative weight of film and the spatial ambition of installation back onto the canvas. Her current body of work centers on the physical layering of encaustic hot wax, ink, charcoal, and mixed media. Through an additive and subtractive process of excavation, she allows Eastern aesthetics and Western conceptualism to engage in a continuous dialectic.
In the space between these two cultures, Shih has found a visual language that needs no translation—a process of stripping away the layers of tradition to unearth the truth of our shared and personal lineages.
EDUATION
MFA California Institute of the Arts- Film/experimental animation
BFA Otis College of Art and Design- Fine ArtsSELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2026 — Nanying Award Exhibition, Tainan, Taiwan
2026 — The Other Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY
2025 -- Projecting Possibilities /video art installation, Culver City
2025 — Brand 53: National Juried Works on Paper, Brand Library & Art Center, CA
2025 — One Art Taipei, TOV Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2024 — MandalaLA, Neo LA Gallery, Los Angeles, CA (Curated by Tetsuji Aono)
2024 — TOV e&f Art & Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2024 — The Other Art Fair, Los Angeles, CA
2023 — Brand 51: National Juried Works on Paper, Brand Library & Art Center, CA
2022 — Open Show, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA (Juried by MOCA Curator Rebecca Lowery)
2022 — CA 101, Redondo Beach, CA
2020 — Open Show, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA
2019 — Art Salon Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA
2018 — CA 101, Redondo Beach, CA
2017 — Exteriors, Art Share L.A., Los Angeles, CA
2017 — In Flawed Abundance, New Art Center, Newton, MA
2012 — Ambiguous Being, Hong-gah Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
2011 — Le Choix de Paris, Cité internationale des Arts, Paris, France
2011 — La Trace du Temps, Les Voûtes, Paris, France
2010 — Plastic Life, San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, CA
2009 — Solo Exhibition, One Year Gallery, Taipei, Taiwan
2009 — Video Art, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
2008 — Parallel Time, Taipei Artist Village, Taipei, Taiwan
2008 — Stop Human Trafficking (Public Installation), Taipei Main Station, Taipei, Taiwan
2006 — Co6: Taiwan Avant-Garde Documenta, National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts, Taichung, Taiwan
GRANTS & ARTIST RESIDENCIES
2025 — Artist Grant Recipient (Projecting Possibility), Culver City Arts Foundation, Culver City, CA
2011 — Artist-in-Residence, Cité internationale des Arts, Paris, France
2008 — Artist-in-Residence, Taipei Artist Village, Taipei, Taiwan
2006 — Artist-in-Residence, 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA
CURATORIAL PROJECTS & LEADERSHIP
2012–2015 — Founder and Director, Studio 2224 (Alternative Art Space), Taipei, Taiwan
2014–2016 — Board Director, Awakening Foundation, Taipei, Taiwan
MOVING IMAGE & DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS
2015 — National Geographic, "Taiwan: Island of Fish" Series — Executive Producer
2014 — River of Art — Director & Producer
2013 — Discovery Channel, "Chineseness: Zhang Huan" — Director & Producer
2013 — NHK / KBS / MediaCorp, "Sailors in the Wheatfield" — Producer & Editor
2013 — National Geographic, "Inside: China's Biggest Gala" — Producer
2012 — National Geographic, "Taiwan's Medical Miracle" — Producer
2012 — National Geographic, "Cradle of the Mandopop" — Producer
2011 — National Geographic, "Trash to Treasure" — Producer
2011 — 40 (Video Installation) — Director
2010 — National Geographic, "Inside: Taipei Deaflympics" — Director & Producer
2009 — National Geographic, "Hip Hop Nation" — Producer
2008 — Treasure Island (35mm Short Film) — Director & Producer
2007 — Secret Garden (Video Installation) — Director
2007 — National Geographic, "Super Pigs" — Director, Producer, & Editor
2005 — 12 Steps to Success for Artists in Los Angeles (Video Installation) — Director
2005 — National Geographic, "Spirit Talk" — Director & Editor
2003 — Papa Blue (35mm Experimental Film) — Director & Producer
1999 — Women (16mm Animated Film) — Director, Producer, & Animator
FILM AWARDS & JURIES
2026 — Nanying Award Taiwan, Merit Award
2016 — Northern Lights Emerging Talent Award, Alaska International Film Awards
2015 — Official Selection, St. Louis International Film Festival
2013 — Best Chinese Subject Award, China Documentary Academy
2013 — Juror, TV Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan
2011 — Official Selection, International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
2006 — Best Editing Award, TV Golden Bell Awards, Taiwan
2004 — Best Experimental Film, Golden Harvest Film Festival
2004 — Best Animated Film, Drama International Short Film Festival, Greece
2003 — Creative Genre Award, Taipei Film Festival
2003 — Best Short Film Nominee, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival
2000 — Grand Prix, Taipei International Film Festival
ACADEMIC APPOINTMENTS
2018 — Guest Trainer & Mentor, Documentary Campus (Crossing Borders Program)
2012 — Assistant Professor, National Taiwan University of Arts, New Taipei City, Taiwan
2010 — Lecturer, Chinese Culture University, Taipei, Taiwan