Ryan Villamael presents his first ever US solo exhibition ISLES at Silverlens New York. ISLES brings together all new paper-cut map sculptures encased in glass bell jars with an accompanying audio component—the artist's first foray into sound as a medium. For this deeply personal show, Villamael reflects on and traces connections between the Philippines' long and storied history of migration and his own family's story, highlighting a nation of people that have often found themselves the unfortunate casualties of collateral damage wrought by geopolitical tensions and negotiations.

Each piece features delicate paper cutouts of flora—plants, leaves, and vines—often layered with both archaic and contemporary maps of the Philippines, all encased in glass bell jars. Villamael turns to maps as both physical objects and conceptual symbols that shape our understanding of the world, exploring how they not only represent places but also reflect our personal and collective ways of seeing and navigating our realities. Through this medium, the artist reflects on the Philippines' history of migration, pointing to an economy shaped by decades of foreign intervention and domestic corruption.

The jewel-like works evoke both the beauty and fragility of the natural world, while addressing the profound connection between nature, identity, and the Filipino diaspora. In protecting and isolating the sculptures within bell jars, Villamael attempts to preserve these memories, cultures, and landscapes and reflects on the displacement and resilience of those living in the diaspora. The tension between preservation and isolation invites reflection on the idea of home and belonging—how home exists as a memory, yet constantly evolved for those far from it.

Ryan Villamael (b. 1987, Laguna Philippines; lives and works in Los Baños, Philippines) is an artist renowned for working with paper as a sculptural medium. With works ranging from stand-alone soft sculptures to large-scale pieces and immense installations, he has been exploring the themes, tensions, and trajectories of his chosen material for over a decade. Employing a rigorous dedication to technique and precision, Villamael uses the traditional Philippine art form of paper-cutting as a way to mediate and meditate upon history, collective memory, and the interpenetrating layers that constitute a locality. In recent works, he has expanded to explore how paper can become a locus of multiple and overlapping meanings, through which ideas on the natural world, domestic sphere, and urban landscape may be negotiated.

In 2015, his exhibition Isles received the Ateneo Art Award, which allowed him to participate in studio residency grants at La Trobe University Visual Arts Center in Bendigo, Australia; Artesan Gallery in Singapore; and Liverpool Hope University in Liverpool, United Kingdom. The following year, Villamael participated in the Singapore Biennale and, in 2018, in the Biwako Biennale in Japan. Villamael is a recipient of the prestigious Cultural Center of the Philippines Thirteen Artists Award (2021) and was recently invited to the Civitella Ranieri Visual Arts Residency in Italy (2025).

He has exhibited at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris; MAIIAM Contemporary Art Museum in Chiang Mai; Para Site in Hong Kong; Mizuma Gallery in Tokyo; the Arts House in Singapore; ROH Projects in Jakarta; and the Metropolitan Museum in Manila. Upcoming, Villamael will exhibit the seventh iteration of his foundational Locus Amoenus series in Musafiri: Travellers and Guests at Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin (2025).