Being bullied in primary school because of her weight led LaToya Lakil Da Silva, now 16-years-old, to find comfort in the arts. Now, whether it is through painting, makeup artistry, graphic design, or even tattooing, this award-winning teenager is planning to push her limits to become the epitome of an accomplished artist.

LaToya explains that creativity came naturally to her; she grew up in a home with talented individuals and being in such an enabling, creative, and dramatic environment ignited her love for the arts at a very young age. LaToya has two uncles who are both quite seasoned artists and her mother is a cake decorator, so from the minute she was born she was surrounded by creativity.

Throughout her childhood she had multiple career aspirations, she said. However, she was always drawn to art. “In primary school I was bullied about my weight because I was a bit on the chubby side. So, in Grade Three when I started drawing things like dresses and animals in class, I noticed that people started complimenting me and it made me feel much better about myself so I stuck to it.”

When she started secondary school in 2014, she was more than excited to find out that Visual Arts was offered as an actual subject.

With the guidance of her art teachers Sir Brian Clarke and Mr Travell Blackman, she was able to develop her skills and later on find her preferred style of painting.

“My paintings revolve mainly around semi-realism and my favorite medium to use is acrylic paint.”

Her inspiration comes from the works of artists such as Shaquana Cummings, Tenisha Billington, Chris Bissesar, and Shamer Hescott, who all happen to be Guyanese.

“I try to create my pieces in such a way that people would be able to relate to it or they would be able to find their own meaning or interpretation of it. Like many artists, I use my art to express myself in a way that words can’t.”

LaToya said her first big venture into art came in May 2018, when she was a part of the ‘Inception of Art Exhibition’ at the Giftland Mall. It was a two-day exhibition where a few amazing artists and herself were able to network and display their pieces. “It was at this very exhibition that I sold a painting for the very first time, thus starting my brand, X._.Clusiv.Art. I am eagerly awaiting the opportunity to be a part of another exhibition so I may have the chance to share my work with others and meet more people who share the same interests as me.”

Her first big accomplishment was in the National Children’s Mashramani Art Competition 2018, where she placed first in the 16-18 category. In 2019, she decided to enter the competition again with her painting titled “Dorado”, which placed second in the 16-18 category. After that she gave herself time to further develop her skills.

Dorado

She hopes to enter the Guyana Visual Arts Competition and Exhibition and hopefully walk away with the first place prize.

Upon completion of her schooling, she wishes to expand horizons by getting involved in all other types of art such as body painting, tattooing, makeup artistry, clothing designing, jewelry making and graphic design.

At the moment, she is currently working on developing her skills in makeup artistry and clothing designing with the hopes to one day make it an official business. In fact, she just recently completed a makeup course and she is currently working on marketing herself has a makeup artist.

LaToya Da Silva

“Amongst all of my paintings, some of my most notable pieces are “Nyarai”, “Dorado”, “Carved Envy”, “Necrocabularism”, “Ke’ae’ana” and “Pride”. “Pride”, which is a piece I did for my Visual Arts SBA, is somewhat of a social commentary. It displays a breast cancer survivor who is proudly wearing her baldness and showing off her scar. I chose to do this painting on the page of a newspaper which had the headline “Hundreds Walk for Breast Cancer Awareness”; I felt like that added more authenticity to the piece. In completing this piece I decided to pay homage to the Guyanese women who either died from or are survivors of breast cancer. As such, I gathered the names of twelve women, six of which are those who passed away due to breast cancer, and six survivors of breast cancer. I cannot begin to explain how proud I am of this piece and the impact it has made to so many people thus far and I intend to continue impacting the lives of people with my art,” LaToya explained.

Pride
Nyarai

Aside from art, she would also like to follow her passion for helping people. It is with this that she have made the decision to study Medical Rehabilitation at the University of Guyana once she finishes high school.

“As I am still very young, I’ve not yet reached my limit in the arts, and I don’t think I ever will. There is still a long way ahead of me with much more for me to learn and I look forward to using each lesson to mould myself into the epitome of an accomplished artist. Though my career in art is beginning to blossom, I do not intend to rush the process because I have always gone by the quote, “Life is a Journey, not a Race”, which I strongly believe is the key to success.

In her free time she enjoys painting, acting, listening to music, doing makeup, and helping people.

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