About
Me
About Salena Malmin
Salena Malmin is a contemporary figurative artist whose work explores body positivity, femininity, identity, and the experience of being seen. Through bold color, expressive figures, and an intuitive approach to painting, she celebrates bodies as they are—individual, imperfect, powerful, and worthy of taking up space.
Her current work is rooted in contemporary figurative painting, often combining elements of expressionism, fashion, nostalgia, playfulness, and vulnerability. Rather than presenting an idealized version of the human body, Salena is interested in the personality and lived experience behind the figure. Her subjects are allowed to be soft, strange, confident, sensual, imperfect, and unapologetically present.
Salena earned her Bachelor’s degree in Art from Brevard College in 2022, concentrating in Drawing and Painting. She entered the program with much of her artistic background developed independently, and her time at Brevard allowed her to expand that instinctive approach through formal study, experimentation, and intensive studio practice.
During her college career, Salena received Brevard College’s Advancement Award in Painting in 2020 and was later recognized with the Outstanding Advancement in Painting & Drawing Award in 2022. Her studies culminated in a 2022 senior exhibition at Spiers Gallery, where she exhibited alongside fellow graduating artists Avery Lockwood and Mary Ashley Clark. Her painting Camouflage became a defining piece from that senior body of work.
Following graduation, Salena continued her involvement in the Western North Carolina art community professionally. From 2022 through 2024, she worked as a Sales Consultant at the Grand Bohemian Gallery in Asheville, North Carolina. Working within a fine-art gallery environment gave her experience with the other side of the artist–collector relationship and helped shape her understanding of how original artwork is presented, discussed, and ultimately connected with the people who bring it into their homes.
Today, Salena continues to develop her independent studio practice, creating both larger original paintings and intimate small-format works. Her contemporary work increasingly centers the female form and body positivity, challenging narrow ideas of beauty while creating space for bodies and personalities that have not always been celebrated in traditional figurative art.
Across her work, Salena wants the viewer to encounter more than a beautiful image. She wants them to recognize something familiar—a body, a feeling, an insecurity, a confidence, or a piece of themselves.
At its heart, her work is a celebration of taking up space and being seen exactly as you are.