Love Across Cultures | Alyssa Silos
Love Across Cultures
Alyssa Silos
April 22 – May 17, 2019
Reception: Wednesday, May 15, 5–8 PM (artist talk at 6 PM)
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In honor of Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, White Gallery presents a solo exhibition of mixed-media work by pansexual Filipina artist Alyssa Silos, focusing on the diversity and beauty within queer interracial relationships. Curated by Thién Mùi Easland.
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Alyssa Silos is a Filipino-American visual artist, born in Hawaii but currently working out of Las Vegas. She grew up reading Japanese manga comics and watching anime, which was the catalyst to her artistic journey. She is a self taught artist. However, at 17 she was honored as "most artistic" in her high school superlatives which then lead her to be president of the Art Organization. Since then, she started independently studying Fine Art and began her freelance career.
Silos's work is inspired by the duality of a woman-
"We are not one dimensional. We are many things. We encompass love, hate, anger, innocence, and so much more. There are women that enjoy expressing sexuality and there are women who don't. But being either one doesn't make you less of a woman."- Alyssa Silos.
Her muses are usually mythological inhabited, sultry South East Asian women, that more often than not, are complimented by botanical motifs. They carry inexpressive, vacant stares to contrast with the fluid and dynamic body movement; creating a harmonious balance between being coy yet setting a statement. She's particularly drawn to painting elongated necks that follow protruding collarbones, subtly representing elements of poise and temptation.
However, Silos's work cannot be credited to feminine energy alone, but also through her rich skin tone palettes. She believes you can evoke powerful and telling emotion through undertones, hues, shadows, and highlights. With Silos being of Filipino descent, normalizing brown skin in Fine Art is a recurring theme she intends to celebrate in her pieces. She renders her muses by rigorous layers with colored pencil on wooden blocks, seamlessly blending it into a smooth finish.
Furthermore, Silos's work has appeared in international galleries, exhibits, and private collections world wide. She exhibited in her first international gallery in Seoul, South Korea 2017. Following her first solo international art exhibit in Tokyo, Japan 2018. Locally, she publicly appeared her work for the first time at an LGBTQ gallery event in Las Vegas. Some other creative events she partook in are Jam Fest and Art Square. Her work is also featured on skincare/cosmetic brand AYELE & CO, Yahoo, etc.
On her journey of being a young emerging artist, she recently started curating self defense kits, sketchbooks, and apparel that has then led her to be part of Mayas organization. Because while her occupation is being an artist, she also centralizes her life around social issues and traveling.
