Taylor Fine Art presents
Art Exhibition THE ISLAND – Constance Brantley
Exhibition Dates: April 26th – May 24th, 2025
Opening Night: Saturday April 26th 2025, 7 – 10 PM
In her new solo exhibition, The Island, Constance Brantley dives into the depths of identity by exploring her roots in two distinct islands: the seeming paradise of Guimaras Island in the Philippines and the quintessential suburban American dream of Long Island, NY. These locales exist figuratively and literally a world apart, yet both share a palpable sense of something else lurking beneath an idealistic surface.
Constance’s paintings explore these mysteries of the soul, portraying the haunting beauty of these places and their inhabitants. Her technique of mixing vivid colors of acrylic and strokes of oil stick with layers of torn paper reveals the intimacy of her subjects while capturing the impressionistic decay of a memory. The artist invites us to consider how traits typically associated with an island — beauty, solitude, isolation — may reveal themselves in both her work and ourselves.
Born in South Carolina, Constance spent her earliest years in both the U.S. and the Philippines. She comes from a multicultural background, with a white American father, a Filipino immigrant mother, and an African American stepfather. Her eclectic and chaotic upbringing informs her lifelong interest in people and identity: where we come from, why we are the way we are, how we are all connected. Now that she is a mother, Constance has found renewed interest in exploring her familial lineage.
Constance is known for her vibrant figurative scenes and portraits. She received her BFA in painting & illustration from Pratt Institute (Brooklyn), where she was honored with the Albert Dorne Award from the Society of Illustrators. Her work has been chosen for exhibition by both galleries and prestigious institutions, including the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum and Stanford University. She has been commissioned and published multiple times by the LA Times, most notably her cover piece honoring the lives of Kobe and Gigi Bryant. Her portrait of Prince has received worldwide acclaim. Constance lives in Los Angeles with her partner, child, and little dog Huggy.
