Kapwa in Excelsior Finalist: Chelsea Calalay
Balay Kreative is honored to announce that Chelsea Calalay is one of our finalists for “Kapwa in Excelsior”!
The Kapwa in Excelsior program was designed in collaboration by Make it Mariko and Balay Kreative to celebrate the Filipina/o/x community in Excelsior. These artworks bring unique perspectives on how each artist sees kapwa, our shared identity or inner self, in this community. We are excited to present works by Chelsea Calalay, Erina Alejo, and Juke Jose; three talented Fil-Am artists whose experience of community in the Excelsior has made a deep impression on them. These artworks respond to the question: “How do you live and experience kapwa in the Excelsior every day?” We hope you can join us in celebrating community connections through these beautiful creative reflections.
About the Artist
@HyphyWyphy aka Chelsea Calalay is a Filipinx Multi-disciplinary artist from San Francisco/Yelamu-Ohlone territory. Her work explores cultural duality, the Filipinx experience as well as beauty and femme evolution. Chelsea's exploration with her art is ever changing, but currently she finds peace in directing music videos, collaging, and making jewelry.
The Design
NOWSTALGIA: Portals of The Now + Then.
A series of wooden panels washed with acrylic paint + traditional collage technique. Each wooden panel is an homage to a historical place or events, a feeling, a person or memories spent in the Excelsior and beyond. The intention is to connect pieces of the past to the present and honor them through this form of art-immortalizing my own memories and experiences and allowing them to live beyond me. As a newly displaced resident of Excelsior, this series is deeply personal and allows me to tell a fresh and unique perspective of my childhood and recollections.