Wrenay Gomez-Charlton is a multidisciplinary artist investigating the collision of landscape, memory, and power. Working across photography, collage, installation, sound, and sculptural objects, she examines how built environments and cultural myths facilitate the erasure of personhood and the concealment of history.
Her practice often dwells in the "threshold," focusing on the residue left behind by presence and absence. Gomez-Charlton treats her material choices as an extension of her conceptual inquiry; whether employing the archival permanence of photography, the biological weight of human hair, or the transient resonance of sound. Across these varied mediums, she interrogates the "blind spots" created by visual culture and everyday infrastructure.
From dismantling the mythologies of the American West in her collages to documenting sites of recovery in her landscape work, her practice is an act of witnessing. By unearthing narratives that have been stripped or ignored, Gomez-Charlton builds a collective archive that refuses the bargain of looking away and insists on the endurance of the unspoken.
Curriculum Vitae
Group Exhibitions
2025: 42nd Center Annual, Houston Center for Photography, Houston, TX
2024: Cut Paste Create: The Art of Collage, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
2011: Outlandish: Contemporary Depictions of Nature, Bedford Gallery, Walnut Creek, CA
2009: Tomorrow, Steven Wolfe Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2009: Portfolio Showcase Volume III (Juried), Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2006: Hair Raising, San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, San Jose, CA
2005: Abstractions, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins MOCA, Fort Collins, CO
2005: The Children's Hour, Museum of New Art, Pontiac, MI
2004: Conditions & Response, Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2003: Armed For The Blackout, Juried Digital Media Showcase, University Theatre, San Jose, CA
2003: Migrant Pyros, Humboldt State University Theatre, Arcata, CA
2002: HSU Annual Juried Student Show, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
1998: Portraits & People - The Human Spirit, College of the Redwoods, Eureka, CA
Solo Exhibitions
2010: The Space Between, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2005: Synthetic Rescue (Installation), Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2004: Diaphanous Visions, PhotoEye, Santa Fe, NM
2003: Inheritance, Phillips Camera, Arcata, CA
2002: Anamnesis, Kalos Gallery, Arcata, CA
2002: Bound by Expectation, Foyer Gallery, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Publications
2010: Portfolio Volume III, Book, Center for Fine Art Photography, Ft. Collins, CO
2006: Tressed Out: Art Off the Top of Our Heads, San Francisco Chronicle, Article & Photo
2006: Threads of Memory, Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper, Article
2003: An Abundance of Creativity, Times Standard, Art & Style Section, Article & Photo
2002: Diaphanous Visions, Shots Magazine, Portfolio Issue 77
Teaching & Related Experience
2009-2011: Adjunct Faculty, Art Academy University, San Francisco, CA
2005: Teaching Assistant, "Walking the City", San Francisco Art Institute (Artist: Hans Winkler)
2005: Art Director, "XING Art Journal", Premiere Edition
2004-2005: Curator, Still Lights Gallery, San Francisco Art Institute
Awards
2009: Solo Show Award, Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO (Juror: Stella Kramer)
2003: San Francisco Art Institute Graduate Grant
2002: Michael Salstrom Memorial Photography Award, Humboldt State University