November Featured Artist – M. Aurora Oliva

M. Aurora Oliva is a Filipino-American artist.  She immigrated to the United States with her parents in the 1980’s.  Aurora grew up and was educated in New Jersey. As a child and young adult she was creative and was never far from a museum. An idealist, she pursued a  professional career in nonprofit including working at a national women’s organization in New York City and fundraising for local and national environmental groups in Portland, Oregon.

Aurora describes herself as a “pandemic artist”. She is mostly an abstract painter  but dabbles with other materials.  I have been creative all my life, but the quarantine forced me to rethink my life’s purpose. In the last two and half years, I have made it a full-time “job” to learn and play”. During the pandemic, the social isolation allowed her to reflect and ask the important question of what brings her alive. The answer became clear.   She started playing with paint on index cards in late 2021 and those little index cards turned into bigger and bigger works. 

Aurora joined Village Gallery of Arts in mid-2022.  In the end of 2023, she was juried as an artist in residence at Sequoia Gallery + Studios in Hillsboro and briefly maintained a studio before the organization closed.  Today, Aurora maintains a studio full-time at Carton Service Building in the NW industrial area in Portland, Oregon.  Having a space allowed her to be hyper-focused in improving her craft. 

Her work is currently on display at The Ford Gallery. She will also have a presence at the upcoming Northwest Marine Artworks Open Studios + Holiday Market.  Her past work has also been displayed at Portland Open Studios, Lan Su Chinese Garden, Portland and The Walters Cultural Art Center, Hillsboro.Follow Aurora’s Instagram for @auroraolivart updated with daily musing.  Her website is www.auroraoliva.art. She welcomes VGA members to reach out and arrange a studio visit.