Artist Bio

Joliz Dela Peña, also known as JDP 2009, is an interdisciplinary artist from the Philippines, currently based in Tiohtià: ke/Montreal. Dela Peña is a self-taught artist whose mediums include painting, performance art and alternative photography. Although her mediums of practice constantly vary, the focus of her work predominantly explores the discomfort of social constructs among people of color. From time to time, Dela Pena performs live conceptual art pieces that confront subjects such as diaspora and immigration, sexuality/eroticism, and the celebration of her cultural roots. In recent works, she attempts to translate fragmented memories from her personal life as first-generation immigrant, as well as borrowed from others, to create a larger and more universal perspective for the audience to relate or connect to. Dela Peña’s work has been exhibited at WIP gallery (The ‘i’ Word, 2020), Somewhere Gallery (Mementos of Self, 2020), Rad Hourani Foundation (Je suis d’ici/I am from here, 2021) and in the recent the 4th edition of Artch (2021). In the upcoming year of 2022, she will be one of the selected artists to present in Art Souterrain’s Voies/Voix Resilientes.