{"id":571,"date":"2024-10-08T18:19:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-08T18:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/?p=571"},"modified":"2025-02-20T17:23:51","modified_gmt":"2025-02-20T17:23:51","slug":"dreamlike-narratives-arise-from-alefes-silvas-fantastic-illustrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/08\/dreamlike-narratives-arise-from-alefes-silvas-fantastic-illustrations\/","title":{"rendered":"Dreamlike Narratives Arise from Alefes Silva\u2019s Fantastic Illustrations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"Dreamlike Narratives Arise from Alefes Silva\u2019s Fantastic Illustrations\" class=\"lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-1.jpg\"><\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy work arises from the interplay between memory and the present,\u201d says Bogot\u00e1-based illustrator <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alefesalfeizar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Alefes Silva<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Themes of stillness and solitude, growth and death, and love and heartbreak recur in Silva\u2019s drawings, which fuse fantastic plants and animals with human details. In one piece, a nude figure slumps over while trees and small shrubs grow from its back, while another depicts a brilliant, red sapling sprouting from a red-headed woman. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1192\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a man holding his hand up to his face. an eye appears on the back of his hand like a flower. plants grow across his torso\" class=\"wp-image-442405 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-2-960x1192.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cEach element carries a specific meaning within my work, tied to a moment in memory, part of a dream or desire,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>Silva balances his practice with editorial commissions from magazines and publishers and personal projects. He\u2019s currently working on four illustrated books, including a gardening diary and explorations of birds and grasshoppers.<\/p>\n<p>The illustrator has pieces on view through November 30 in a group exhibition at <a href=\"https:\/\/elk.ee\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Estonian Children\u2019s Literature Centre<\/a> and later this month as part of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/mount_echo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">MountEch\u00f3<\/a>. Dive into his surreal world on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.behance.net\/marianalefess\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Behance<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/alefesalfeizar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"633\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"an open sketchbook with a white, bird like creature greeting a tiny man in a forest\" class=\"wp-image-442401 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-5-960x633-1.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"960\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a red tree appears to grow out of the chest of a red-headed woman\" class=\"wp-image-442403 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-3-960x960.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"633\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"an open sketchbook showing red plants growing from a wolf on the left and gray plants growing from a red-hooded figure on the right\" class=\"wp-image-442406 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-6-960x633-1.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"633\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"an open sketchbook showing a human face emerging from a lush garden of plants with a red cat prowling in its midst\" class=\"wp-image-442402 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-7-960x633.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"1136\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a tree grows into a house in its canopy. a man peers through an upper story window\" class=\"wp-image-442404 lazyload\" data-src=\"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-4-960x1136-1.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"633\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" alt=\"a leaf sprouts from the mouth of a human figure, whose form is repeated as a silhouette and plant rendering\" class=\"wp-image-442400 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/silva-8-960x633.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<p>Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/members\">Colossal Member<\/a> today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\/2024\/10\/alefes-silva-illustrations\/\">Dreamlike Narratives Arise from Alefes Silva\u2019s Fantastic Illustrations<\/a> appeared first on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thisiscolossal.com\">Colossal<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cMy work arises from the interplay between memory and the present,\u201d says Bogot\u00e1-based illustrator Alefes Silva. Themes of stillness and solitude, growth and death, and love and heartbreak recur in Silva\u2019s drawings, which fuse fantastic&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"more-link-wrapper\"><a href=\"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/08\/dreamlike-narratives-arise-from-alefes-silvas-fantastic-illustrations\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Dreamlike Narratives Arise from Alefes Silva\u2019s Fantastic Illustrations&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=571"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":586,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/571\/revisions\/586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/scrollsugar.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}