artist statement (Link to CV):
My compositional themes center around eroticism, animism, religious mythology, and fate: what and who is destined for us, what we reach for, how that calls for us. Responding in various ways to my devout Catholic, Filipino-American upbringing, my work combines religious iconography with geometric abstraction to depict divine figures: plant and animal spirits, gods and goddesses, anthropomorphic landscapes and celestial bodies.
My work is informed by observation, but untethered by strict representation; my decisions move between formal and intuitive. Color is at the heart of my work and I take an animist approach to it. I believe each color has its own spirit, an essence or consciousness that guides how it behaves on the palette, within a painting, and in the world. I seek to build palettes that vibrate and create unexpected, chromatic harmonies.
My paintings question what we see, what comes through, and what lies beyond. Reality as we ‘see’ it is only a very small part of the picture. I am dedicated to the parts that may be beyond ‘seeing.’
about:
Alex Maceda (b.1989) is a Filipina-American artist and writer living and working in New York City. She holds an MFA in Painting from the New York Studio School (2026), an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business (2018) and a BA in Classical Studies from Dartmouth College (2011). Her work has been the subject of solo presentations at Half Gallery, New York (2026); Herron House, Yucca Valley, CA (2024); Dorado 806 Projects, Los Angeles (2024); Upper Market Gallery, San Francisco (2024); and 29 Palms Art Gallery, Twentynine Palms, CA (2023). Maceda has participated in group presentations at Friends Fair, Austin with Half Gallery (2026) and Future Fair, New York with Loft Projects (2026) and Visionary Projects (2025). Selected group exhibitions include Harper’s, New York (2026); Marinaro, New York (2026); Ryan Hastings Gallery, Brooklyn (2025); College of the Desert, Palm Springs, CA (2025); and the High Line Nine Galleries, New York (2023). Maceda was recently featured in the MFA Annual Issue #183 of New American Paintings. She was raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and spent her summers in Manila, Philippines.