Pinxy Tribes in Bloom with ClarizeYale

Photo by Kim Davalos

ClarizeYale (KLUH-ree-zee-yayl ) is a Pinay* artist and illustrator, born and raised in San Francisco, CA and she helps brown women be seen by creating art and illustrations that represents us.

She’s loved drawing since she was a kid and so she’s turned to illustrating and painting while continuing to learn new techniques and experiment with mediums that speak to her. Her main subjects are the female form but she enjoys creating illustrations that include flora and fauna as well. Her artistic interests also include street art and Art Nouveau and she is forever trying to figure out how to combine her love for the two.

She is a visual storyteller and so her work illustrates reflections of herself, her experiences, and the shared experiences of others. She is also a life long learner and illustrates her findings and studies as she learns and explores more about herself as a person and her ancestral roots.

"Pinxy Tribes" is an illustration project that started so I could learn more about the different tribes and people of the Philippines as well as the beautiful and interesting flora and fauna that also come from the islands.

The project stemmed from the despair that I may never know my family's ancestral roots. I decided to instead start this project as a way to learn about all of our people's existence, to feel whole as a Filipinx no matter where I was born or came from, and to educate myself and others about these tribes, these animals, and these plants all exist and are a beautiful addition to the knowledge of what we know about the world.

Revadavia will be working with cultural bearers to build relationships with Indigenous groups and center Indigenous Sovereignty in her artistic advocacy work. I depict Filipinx Women as I am one myself in order to create representation for all Filipinx Women. The portraits themselves, are an homage to my love of the Art Nouveau art style, the women in the portraits are depicted wearing the traditional garb of their respected tribe, and the flora and fauna are included to represent my stance in environmentalism.

- ClarizeYale