Filipino California: Meet The FilAm Artists showcased in Los Angeles’ Forest Lawn Museum

Written by Jennifer Redondo

Did you know that there is an art museum located at a cemetery in Los Angeles? If you didn’t know, now you know! In April 2024, the Forest Lawn Museum opened their doors to their latest exhibit, Filipino California: Art and the Filipino Diaspora. 

The exhibition showcases the work of the following seven artists: Anthony Francisco, Allison Hueman, Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza, Christine Morla, Junn Roca, Eliseo Art Silva, and Maria Villote. Their work spans across styles and formats — from paintings, drawings, sculptures, installations, conceptual art and more. To learn more about them, read on. 

1. Anthony Francisco

Anthony Francisco is the creator of probably one of the most iconic Marvel characters in the world – Baby Groot (Guardians of the Galaxy). Francisco is a creator, director, illustration and concept artist from Manila, Philippines. Francisco spent nine years at Marvel Studios where he worked as a Senior Designer, creating characters such as Loki (Thor), Namor, Modok, Okoye (The Black Panther) and Dora Milaje warriors (The Black Panther). 

Francisco is currently the Director of Creative Development at Dolphin Entertainment where he is developing a science-fictional space opera titled Create Chronicles. Just as he did with Baby Groot, who he designed with his son and Filipino roots in mind, Francisco continues to draw inspiration from his Filipino culture and folklore when creating new characters and building the worlds in which they live.  

2. Allison Hueman

Allison Hueman is an Oakland-based graffiti artist, painter, and illustrator. She graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a B.A. in Design and Media Arts. The name “Hueman” emerged after she began to paint murals after a dark period in her life. Painting made her feel alive and human. From then on, she’s continued to create dynamic paintings, murals, site-specific installations, and new media works that oscillate between abstraction and representation of human form. Her art contains vivid colors with paint and textiles. 

Hueman has been commissioned to work on large-scale projects with the City of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Nike, Adobe, and the Norwegian Cruise Line. Her work also includes the Golden State Warriors’ 2022-2023 Nike NBA City Edition Uniforms and basketball court. She partnered with Under Armour and Stephen Curry for the release of the Curry 8 Flow. She’s been commissioned to create art for celebrities such as Pink, Ava Duvernay and Swizz Beats. 

3. Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza

Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza is a multidisciplinary artist born in Manila, and raised in Southern California. Mendoza makes art exploring diasporic identity through narratives, material significance and history. She primarily makes 2- and 3-dimensional art forms like drawings, objects, and installations. 

Like many immigrants who came to the United States in the 1970s, Mendoza was raised to assimilate within American culture. In her art, you will see glimpses of her immigrant upbringing such as nostalgic objects like the cardboard boxes that Filipino-Americans use for balikbayan boxes to send gifts back to the Philippines. 

Since 2001, Mendoza has served as Associate Professor and Drawing Coordinator for the Visual Arts and Media Studies Division at Pasadena City College. She also serves as a board member of FilAm Arts. 

4. Christine Morla

Christine Morla is a mixed media artist that draws inspiration from being Filipino-American. Her dad studied industrial design and was also a weaver, painter and musician in the Philippines. Heavily influenced by her father, she creates labor-intensive weaving installations inspired by the Philippine banig (a handwoven style mat used in the Philippines for sleeping and sitting). Her art explores various cultural signifiers, mapping landscapes while simultaneously expressing a longing for identity by attempting to merge disparate selves. 

Morla graduated with a B.A. in Studio Arts from Loyola Marymount University and received her M.F.A. from Claremont Graduate University. Morla has taught art at many established programs throughout Southern California. Currently, she is the head of the Studio Art Program and Professor of Art at Oxnard College as well as the Director of the McNish Art Gallery.  

5. Junn Roca

Junn Roca is a Philippine-born modern and contemporary artist influenced by his father who was also an artist. He worked as an apprentice to renowned Filipino artist, Felix Gonzalez. In 1979, Roca immigrated to the United States to start out his career in the animation industry, working for DIC Entertainment, Marvel and Warner Brothers. Roca is a two-time Emmy award winner for his work on Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. 

On top of that, Roca is also a phenomenal painter. Although he primarily paints portraits, he also paints landscapes, cityscapes and portraits that remind him of home – whether that’s the Philippines or Los Angeles. He has painted for various clients including portraits of Slash of Guns N’ Roses to a mass production studio who sold home decor to Levitz and JC Penny. In this particular exhibit you will see his amazing paintings focused on landscapes and cityscapes reminiscent of Los Angeles and the Philippines.    

6. Eliseo Art Silva

Eliseo Art Silva is a contemporary multimedia artist born in Manila, Philippines. In 1995, Silva earned a B.F.A. from Otis College of Art and Design. In 2003, he obtained his M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art.   

Silva incorporates his Filipino heritage into his art, fostering community connection and compassionate interaction. His art gives voice to historically marginalized groups, celebrating diversity, and highlighting the heritage and history of the Philippines. 

Silva is renowned for designing Talang Gabay: Our Guiding Star, which is Historic Filipinotown’s Eastern Gateway in Los Angeles, California. Silva also has a mural,Gintong Kasaysayan, Gintong Pamana (A Glorious History, a Golden Legacy), located in Unidad Park in Historic Filipinotown, which summarizes 5,000 years of FIlipino and Filipino-American history – depicting iconic farmworker activists like Larry Itliong, who led the Delano Grape Strikes in the1960s and Ben Cayetano, who became the first Filipino-American elected governor in Hawaii in 1994.  

Silva splits his time between Los Angeles and Manila, where he has an Art Studio and Art School. Despite being in the United States for over 30 years, Silva considered himself to be “a Filipino in the global diaspora”. 

7. Maria Villote

Maria Villote is an interdisciplinary artist, primarily working in sculpture, painting and digital photography. Villote was born in Manila, Philippines and immigrated to the United States at the age of nine. She graduated with a B.A. in Art Practice from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Villote’s art delves into colonial mentality, assimilation, and internalized racism. She incorporates personal experiences from her childhood and her experience of assimilating while being accused of cultural alienation. She invites viewers to reflect on the complexities of identity and the fluidity of cultural boundaries.  

Villote has exhibited at numerous galleries, including the 18th Street Art Center in Santa Monica, The Control Room in Los Angeles, the Zughaus Gallery in Berkeley, and now the Forest Lawn Museum in Glendale.  

The Filipino California: Art and the Filipino Diaspora exhibit will run until September 8, 2024 at the Forest Lawn Museum located at 1712 S. Glendale Avenue, Glendale, CA 91205. Enter the main gate and follow the signs up the hill to the museum. Admission and parking are free. For more information, head to the Forest Lawn Museum website.  

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Written by Jennifer Redondo

Co-Founder and Co-Author of In Her Purpose

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