Studio Work

I paint because I need to move.

Painting is a physical act that I want to extend to the viewer as much as possible.

Through a process of breaking down parts of a human form, I combine representational figurative imagery with archetypes often grounded in nature, history, the grotesque, or the delirious.

These intimate and psychologically vulnerable images are cut abruptly, at times violently, and never include a recognizable human face. This identity removal is an intentional act to allow the viewer to take in the composition as a true voyeur: exploring the notions of objectification, influence, and response. I’m interested in transition and visceral thought: how mentality and physicality overlap and cannibalize one another. I want to think with my skin.

Heavily influenced by Baroque, Shunga erotic art in Japan from the 14th to 16th century, and the Renaissance influenced Grotesque style of the 16th century– I aim to study sensuality, storytelling, technology, and power in parallel with mental and physical responses.

Bio

Charley Frances (b.1990) is a self-taught artist who lives and works in Cleveland, Ohio. She first started her career in commercial murals and community driven public art in 2018 as the first American accepted into the Mural Arts Career Development Program in Toronto, Ontario. There she completed a three-month certification for emerging mural artists and public art project managers, as well as assisted in her first mural restoration based in Canada. Over the next six years she specialized in site-specific public works in the U.S. to help inspire interaction within a community, especially projects that included youth participation or works intended for youth audiences. Some installation locations include Cleveland, OH; Columbus, OH; Cincinnati, OH; Baltimore, MD; and Norfolk, VA. Frances continues her work in the public art space through serving on the Public Art Committee for the City of Cleveland (having been nominated for a two year term until May 2025), as she continues to grow her studio practice.

Community Public Art: Youth Focus

Charley Frances is a Cleveland, Ohio based artist that specializes in murals and public art with kids. Her installations focus on collaboration. With a process of creating artwork in partnership, she designs site-specific public works to help inspire interaction within a community.

Either working directly with children as a mural teaching artist or through installations intended for youth audiences— Charley Frances specializes in leveraging art as a tool for emotional and creative growth for kids.