About the artist

Artist Bio

Francisco Silva was born in Lima, Peru, and immigrated to the United States with his family at the age of three, settling in New Jersey. Encouraged by his parents, he began drawing from an early age and later studied at Parsons School of Design, where he focused on composition, color, oil painting, and graphic design.

After graduating, Silva exhibited in group shows and later began working as a graphic designer at an art magazine. Over time, his career shifted from graphic design to web development, placing painting on hold for several years. In 2019, he returned to oil painting with renewed purpose, beginning with landscapes inspired by his backpacking experiences on the Appalachian Trail.

His current work explores themes of social critique and the emotional landscape of everyday life. Drawing inspiration from Edward Hopper and the Social Realist painters of the 1920s and ’30s, Silva uses vibrant color informed by his Peruvian heritage and a combination of loose, expressive brushwork and controlled detail to create representational scenes that resonate with contemporary issues.

Artist Statement

This current series marks a new direction in my painting practice—one that uses still life as a lens for social and political critique. What began as a formal investigation of value and tone through the depiction of everyday household objects quickly evolved into something deeper. These seemingly mundane items began to reveal themselves as cultural markers—symbols of class, consumerism, and the systems that quietly govern daily life.

While grounded in observational painting, this body of work engages directly with issues such as corporate power, economic inequality, and the erosion of civil liberties. Some pieces are inspired by specific events or corporate actions; others respond more broadly to the way policy shapes experience. Recent works explore the troubling realities of deportation and incarceration, using familiar objects to point to lives caught in unjust systems. Through scale, color, and composition, I aim not only to depict, but to provoke—to invite viewers into a deeper consideration of the structures that define contemporary American society.