THEA CANLAS: Value Studies

THEA CANLAS is a Filipina-American artist whose conceptual, research-driven work explores the entanglements of diasporic Philippine identity through sculptural objects, installations, and digital media. Her current body of work, Value Studies, explores the intersections of globalized economies, racial capitalism, post-colonial statecraft, (trans)national identity, and systems that dictate cultural and economic value.

In the artist’s own words:

Using the language of material histories intrinsically linked to colonial economies, national identity, and personal memories of home, Value Studies (2021-present) is a series of works that attempt to articulate the embodied experience of generations of erasure through commodification and its effects on perceptions of cultural value.

Value Studies incorporates various materials such as traditional Philippine handicrafts, readymade objects, historical textiles, human hair, and tropical fruits to interrogate the relationships between value and cultural narration. Out of these materials, ghosts materialize into earthly forms: the translucent uniforms of invisible laborers float in the space of the gallery; the flags of spectral nations dangle from the ceiling; brooms of human hair hang anonymously. They appear as visitations and apparitions, yet they reflect contemporary horrors.

THEA CANLAS is a Filipina-American artist whose conceptual, research-driven work explores the entanglements of diasporic Philippine identity through sculptural objects, installations, and digital media. Thea received her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2006 and her MFA from Emily Carr University of Art and Design in 2023. Her work has been exhibited in Washington, DC, Houston, Vancouver, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. She has been the recipient of a Gelman Travel Fellowship, a Ruby’s Artist Grant, and was selected as a semifinalist for the Sondheim Art Prize. In 2024, she was selected to be a part of the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture Artist Residency. Thea lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband, David, and son, Isagani. She currently works as a studio artist and educator.