Cherisse Alcantara is a Filipina-American painter whose luminous and deeply observed oil paintings are poetic, reimagined depictions of her surroundings, finding meaning within the ordinary and ephemeral. Her works reflect on home, place, and the complex search for rootedness and belonging, while bringing attention to simple forms and the essence of everyday objects, and a richer connection with nature and the here and now.
Cherisse received her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (2021) and BA from the University of California-Berkeley (2013). She is the recipient of the Wendy Sussman Prize in Painting (UC Berkeley), the Dessner Memorial Travel Award (PAFA), and the Balay Kreative Growth Grant. She has been awarded artist residencies at Jentel (Wyoming) and Chalk Hill (California). Her work has been published in 48 Hills as well as shown in museums and galleries locally and nationally, including The de Young Museum, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts Museum, Marin Museum of Contemporary Art, Pence Gallery, Sanchez Art Center, and Berkeley Art Center. She was born in the Philippines, and raised both there and in the United States. An arts educator, Alcantara lives and works in San Francisco, CA.
