Opening for The Silence – Rachel Bridges

The Silence 
May 10–June 28, 2025,
Gallery Hours Saturdays 2pm – 5pm for duration of exhibition

A second generation Filipina American, Bridges was largely unaware of her Chinese ancestry until recently, though in retrospect there were clues, such as the use of Chinese spices in her mother’s traditional Philippine meals. In The Silence, Rachel Bridges uses family photos, public archives, and other source material to fill in the gaps of her own family history, much of it erased through generations of conflict in the region. This exhibition explores both Bridges’ Filipino and new-found Chinese heritage through her primary medium of painting.

The Silence looks at changes in Philippine culture through women’s dresses, a nod to new trade and a rise in Chinese immigration during periods of major Spanish and American colonization. Landscapes of the sea and boats represent some of the artist’s own family’s journey from South China to the Cagayan province of the Philippines. Bridges digs through archives in an attempt to understand the events that have shaped her family’s fractured history and to resurrect a forgotten past that, while not spoken of, is deeply felt.

Art in the Park at Hermon Park in the Arroyo Seco is a Public/Private Partnership Arts Facility of the City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA)