Interdisciplinary Writer, Artist, Researcher, Federal Grants Writer, Technologist, and Farmer/Environmentalist-in-training that can bring your vision of feast to lifeBIO
Born in Chicago, raised in suburban New Jersey and Illinois with stints back home in the Philippines, Louella relocated west to California where she worked for one of Silicon Valley’s tech monoliths. After serving for Peace Corps RESPONSE in in 2019, Louella now lives, works, makes, and farms in Waiāhole, Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi with her partner Ryan Ringuette.
Louella works with different mediums from painting to performance, sculpture to food, and poetry to video. But through all these different tools, they are exploring themes of identity, memory, alchemy, home, and peace. Their current body of work is exploring their identity, as a settler in Hawai’i, reconnecting with their indigeneity and growing their relationship with land and place.
Louella focuses on finding the middleground and removing distance between people. In their paintings, Louella blends spontaneity and curiosity with intention. They manipulate layers of paint, marks, and other media to illustrate the malleability of memory and identity. Through technology and video, Louella continues to explore narratives about human connection and disconnection.
Aquino pairs their background as an Artist with her experiences and skills as a successful Program Manager and Corporate Trainer in the technology, public sector, and nonprofit worlds to execute meaningful projects and capacity building programs for businesses and individuals in the United States, Singapore, Peru, India, and Philippines.