Meet Dominique Silva: Artist known as Paperbag

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dominique Silva and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dominique, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
One of the biggest factors in my success is studying all aspects of my craft. Although most people know me as a painter I studied various other things that all have come to play a factor in my creative process. I studied every style of painting, sculpture, photography, human anatomy, color theory etc. All these various studies played a role into my success as an artist. FI do not believe art is not one dimensional. I believe a lot of the same processes and theories work across the board.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I adapted the name Paperbag because of the paper bags that I paint over peoples faces in my portrait. I’ve met various different people in my career and what thing that I have learned is to never judge a book by its cover and its so important for me to get that message across because I have so many friends that are unlike me in so many ways and yet we can still appreciate each other. The paper bag represents that image and mask that everyone puts on everyday. The goal of my art is to bring awareness for people to always look past that image. There was a time in my life where I was dealing with a lot in my career and I was very unsure of myself. I constantly tired to cover it up and hide how I was feeling. I felt like I had a mask on so I painted myself with this paper bag and it definitely resonated with people. From that point forward I tried to tell other peoples stories in my artwork in a creative way that is unique to them. The art of meeting people, photographing them, learning about them, and finding colorful ways to tell their stories has become a career for me and it is something that I truly love to do.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’ve only been here in Houston for 3 years so I’m still finding new things to do all the time but one of my favorite things to do is be around nature. I go to Galveston beach a lot as well as Memorial Park. I try to find somewhere new to go to usually so I’m not in too many places consistently but those are 2 of my personal favorites. Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate my recent motivation to the children that I mentor in the HEAL4 foundation. Their passion and drive as young artist definitely has fueled me to work even harder at what I do and is a constant reminder of how far I’ve come.

Website: www.pvperbvg.com

Instagram: paperxbag

Image Credits
“Humza Hanif”, “Luther Jaron”, as well as my production company, “Paperbag Productions” are responsible for the photos