Rialin José (pronounced RY-lin ho-ZAY) (she/they) is a queer, first-generation Filipina American multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago. With a BA from Columbia College Chicago, Rialin uses her background in film to showcase her artistic process through videos. Most of her work is influenced by her heritage, as she seeks ways to honor and celebrate her Filipino roots, while pushing the boundaries of traditional art styles. In late 2021, she shifted her focus to horror illustration, and has become well-known as “aniniwan” across social media, where she has amassed over 80,000 followers and over 2-million collective views across several platforms. Her work has been exhibited in multiple galleries, including Zhou B Art Center, Bridgeport Art Center, Epiphany Center for the Arts, and Minasa Art Gallery. She was recently awarded the title of "Best Visual Artist" in the Chicago Reader's Best of Chicago 2023.

Headshot by Liz Johnson (2024)

⟡ A friendly note for prospective clients looking to collaborate: As an artist, Rialin is firmly anti-AI art and anti-NFTs. 

about the work

Note: Rialin has bodies of work that explore less dark themes, which she created prior to late 2021. You can find her previous work here: illustration and film.  

Rialin's current work explores the unsettling and the surreal through a dark, imaginative lens. Her process bridges traditional and digital media, as she primarily uses ink on paper, as well as a drawing tablet. She uses grotesque and exaggerated imagery to investigate darker themes of the human condition (and imagination). Her work reflects a fascination with the odd and the absurd, giving form to the terrifying and the taboo.

selected projects

  • In collaboration with artist Jasmine Hart, MALANDI #2 (Sold) (May 2024)
  • Featured Artist for Bloodletter Magazine, Issue Two: Phantoms (March 2024)
  • Illustrator for Pisces Urges by Czaerra Galicinao Ucol (September 2023)
  • In collaboration with Mata Art Gallery, HALIMAW for Hatak (October 2022)

galleries + awards

  • Group Exhibition, April Showers, First Sip Cafe, Chicago, IL (April 2025)
  • Group Exhibition, Urbs in Myco, Gallery of Contemporary Mosaics, Chicago, IL (April 2025)
  • Group Exhibition, MEMENTO MORI Halloween Gala, International Museum of Surgical Science, Chicago, IL (October 2024)
  • Group Exhibition, Halo-Halo Art Show (Season 2), Minasa Art Gallery, Waipahu, HI (October 2024)
  • Group Exhibition, Oops! I Crypt-did it Again, First Sip Cafe, Chicago, IL (October 2024)
  • Group Exhibition, Unwrapping Lumpia: Deconstructing the Filipino American Identity, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL (September 2024)
  • Group Exhibition, First Date/Myers Briggs, First Sip Cafe, Chicago, IL (July 2024)
  • Group Exhibition, First Date, First Sip Cafe, Chicago, IL (February 2024)
  • Group Exhibition, POP!, Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago, IL (November 2023)
  • Group Exhibition, More Than Lumpia, Epiphany Center for the Arts, Chicago, IL (October 2023)
  • Group Exhibition, I Am Not a Robot, Chicago Fine Art Salon, Chicago, IL (November 2022)
  • Solo Exhibition, HALIMAW, Mata Art Gallery, virtual (October 2022)
  • Group Exhibition, DECAHEDRON, Artists on the Lam, virtual (June 2021)
  • Group Exhibition, SLAYSIAN 1.0, Artists on the Lam, virtual (May 2020)

Note: Awards related to film can be found here.

Using Format