Charlie Grosso

Charlie Grosso, a Chinese American woman with a male Italian name, was born in 1979 in Taipei, Taiwan. She was educated in Taipei until the age of eleven, when family tragedy shipped her across the Pacific to Los Angeles to live with her estranged aunt.

She received her formal education at University of Southern California with a BA in Theater Design. Declining her choice of scholarships to pursue an MFA at Boston University and SUNY Purchase, Ms. Grosso focused on the pursue of her artistic vision, honing her photographic craft by apprenticing with many well-known commercial photographers including, Jay Maisel.

Her work has been nominated for several awards including qualifying as a finalist for a CEBA Award in 2005, as well as receiving a commission from the LA County Metropolitan Transit Authority for their 2006 Neighborhood Poster Project.

Since 2005, Grosso has shifted her vision to artistic endeavors while maintaining her commercial business. Most recently, her artistic photographic efforts has been focused on a single body of work, Wok the Dog. A project that she feels can create a larger cultural dialogue in efforts to understand the effects of industrialization and our disconnect with the source of our meals.

Influenced by Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Sebastiao Salgado, Sylvia Plath as well as her own experience as an outsider. Grosso’s work are spontaneous but deliberate. The images plead to be looked at again and through every viewing the viewer discovers a different dimension. Grosso’s work is plagued with ruthless beauty and subtle understanding of the most improbably things.