ABOUT THE ARTIST

Maia Cruz Palileo is a multi-disciplinary, Brooklyn-based artist. Migration and the permeable concept of home are constant themes in their paintings, installations, sculptures, and drawings. Influenced by familial oral histories about migrating to the US from the Philippines alongside the troubling colonial history between the two countries, Maia infuses these narratives using both memory and imagination. When stories and memories are subjected to time and constant retelling, the narratives become questionable, bordering the line between fact and fiction, while remaining cloaked in the convincingly familiar.

Palileo is a recipient of the Nancy Graves Grant, Art Matters Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant, Jerome Foundation Travel and Study Program Grant, Rema Hort Mann Foundation Emerging Artist Grant, NYFA Painting Fellowship, Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Award and the Astraea Visual Arts Fund Award. Maia received an MFA in sculpture from Brooklyn College, City University of New York and BA in Studio Art at Mount Holyoke College, Massachusetts and has participated in residencies at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, Maine, Lower East Side Print Shop, New York, Millay Colony, New York and the Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans. They are a recipient of the 2022-23 Sharpe Walentas Studio Program in Brooklyn, NY.

ANALYSIS OF WORK

This painting depicts a woman who is obscured by the slight foliage around. The background is blurred, almost as if obscured by a ‘mist’. The woman’s gaze is looking intently to the right of the canvas, where the earthy-toned greens and yellows gradiate lighter, implying a light source. The loose and expressive brustroked in the foreground provide a movement and energy to an otherwise stoic depiction of a woman. The warm glow of the color palette’s earthy tones contrasted with the darkness in the woman’s eyes and hair evoked a sense of mystery and intrigue, inviting the viewer into an intimate view of this woman’s inner life.

In a statement from the artist about their work, Palileo claims they are, “Influenced by the oral history of my family’s arrival in the United States from the Philippines, as well as the colonial relationship between the two countries, my paintings infuse these narratives with memory and care. Figures appear and disappear in lush landscapes, domestic interiors, and colonial structures. Deep blues and reds suggest dark realms where superstition, myth, and history blur. Evoking a hybrid sense of place, they serve as metaphors for migration and assimilation.”

PERSONAL RESPONSE TO WORK

The way Palileo draws from her Phillipino heritage through celebrating oral history is clearly shown in this piece. The abstract brushstrokes and vagueness of shape provides an almost dream-like atmosphere, shrouding the viewer in a sense of intimate mystery. Palileo's deliberate manipulation of the paint with abstract brushstrokes gives the viewer a subtle yet nuanced portrayal of the woman's inner thoughts and emotions. Palileo leaves the woman's emotion up to interpretation, but the intimate perspective allows the audience a deeper look into the woman's inner life without feeling like we are intruding on her solitude.