Artist
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Author
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Poet
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Non-Speaking Communicator
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Autistic
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Artist - Author - Poet - Non-Speaking Communicator - Autistic -
“I invite you to join on a promenade of joyful discovery in the dark shadows and bright lights of my innermost spaces and hope viewers are, if not moved substantially, then at least curious. All good art should cause us to get challenged in our thinking.”
— c.l.lunn on his solo exhibit ‘Nonsense & Hopeful Songs: My Inner Fight to be Heard’
About the Artist
Charles Lenny Lunn
Through painting, poetry, and dialogue, Charles invites visitors to look beyond first impressions and discover the rich inner worlds that often go unseen. His work explores communication, belonging, frustration, humor, and hope.
Writing through facilitated communication, Charles demonstrates that a non-speaking life is not a life without thought — it is a life with an abundance of it.
“Context is everything, right. Interesting painting and then you find that out this is how he communicates. And there’s an unbelievably deep or funny poem that goes with it.”
Jason Hamacher, Gallery Owner, Nonsense & Hopeful Songs, 2024
What People Are Saying
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“I am an artist,” he tapped. “If I can’t paint, then I voice myself in any way I can. It is in me. No one can mark that part of me. I am inspired by the reality of life around me.” - Charles Lunn
— Dana Hedgpeth, The Washington Post. (Photographer, Maansi Srivastava)
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Like any artist, Charles exorcises the pain of being trapped inside a broken body onto canvas through striking colors, structure, and style. And once he decides a piece of done he attaches meaning.
— Jay Korff, ABC 7 News (photographer, Jay Korff)
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“I see the text that Charles writes as eruptions from his inner world, equally passionate, they function to me as both stand-alone poems and complementary messages to the paintings… "
— Sarah Tanguy, Co-curator of Nonsense & Hopeful Songs, AP News (photographer unknown)
Nonsense & Hopeful Songs:
MY INNER FIGHT TO BE HEARD
An Introduction from c. l. lunn
Nasty skeptics will tell you I never could have written this. Blinding belief in certainty of their science. Many see me as retarded. I’m kind of slow in my movements but that’s very literally the only way in which that word applies to me. My mind races very blazingly fast. In my sleep, big words fill my dreams. I bribe my brain nearly every night just to get some rest. But it’s also exhausting to have to negotiate with your own body.
Lots of stuck bodies look lifeless. The easiest assumption when you see a body having difficulty following commands is that the brain inside is broken. For anyone who can’t speak, that assumption happens much faster and is harder to lose. Listening to my spelled words turns your assumptions on their tails. Hate to give away the ending but looking at someone doesn’t tell you much about how they think or feel.
After you finish this book, I ask you to look around your world with new eyes. We silent folk deserve more consideration. Notice the assumptions that no longer feel so convincing. How little we all actually know about each other. Many hearts beat in sync but not in tune. No one fully knows the contents of another’s heart.
Too often I find truth is not singular. Many things can be true at the same time. I am both intelligent and not too skilled at things many small children can do. I am both my own person and also never single due to my need for constant support. I’m both the smiling face and the deep sorrow inside of me. Only recently have I made real moves to hold space for my struggles as a cherished part of my inner being.
My art lets me free my mind from the constraints of my junky body. I work in abstract styles so I’m not bound by having the fine motor control of an elephant. My body is free to do its thing. A big way I view my art openly accepts the disconnect between my mind’s look at the subjects and my body’s interpretation.
I invite you to join on a promenade of joyful discovery in the dark shadows and bright lights of my innermost spaces. Now, onward.
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A collection of poetry, abstract art, and deeply personal conversations that offers a rare glimpse into Charles' inner world—one letter, one painting, and one thought at a time.
