ALAKE SHILLING

The characters in Shilling’s paintings and ceramic sculptures are all on a ‘groovy journey of self-discovery,’ a trip that reflects the artist’s own creative exploration. These fantasy figures evoke a range of human emotions, from loneliness and anxiety to ecstatic happiness. The characters appear bubbly and colourful, but there is always something disturbing lurking beneath the surface. The figures are gender-neutral, possessing a duality of masculine and feminine elements.

The artist speaks about ‘holding on to her childhood.’ She embraces—rather than leaving behind—the things that infused her with joy as a child. Shilling loves the pop culture that filled her formative years. She continues to celebrate these early influences and strives to maintain a youthful energy and spirit. ‘You don’t have to change who you are in order to be an artist,’ she says.

Shilling strongly identifies as a Black artist, although her pop-culture imagery is not generally associated with contemporary African American art. She explains that her use of bold colours and patterns is deeply influenced by African fabrics and other African sources. Shilling points out that tie-dying was practised by the Yoruba people in Osogbo, Nigeria for thousands of years before hippies appropriated the style. She thinks of herself as a Black woman Pop artist.

The exhibition features seven paintings in the main Grand Street gallery, and seven ceramic sculptures in the Grand Street storefront. The paintings are created with unusual materials. Crumbled Styrofoam, nail polish and glitter enhance the oil paint. In some of the paintings, the materials pour over the edge. In Shilling’s imagination, the sculptures portray ‘the characters you meet along the way in The Hippest Trip.’ She takes familiar images and objects and ‘makes them magical.’ Alake Shilling does not just make paintings and sculptures: she creates her own artistic world.

Alake Shilling was born in Los Angeles in 1993 and continues to live and work there in her home studio. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago for one year but preferred to find her own path. Her most important formative art experience was her internship and exhibition at 365 Mission in Los Angeles. The Hippest Trip in America - By Land, Air and Sea is Shilling’s first solo exhibition in New York.