Painter and muralist Roan Victor has two creative sanctuaries: her backyard garden, where she grows California native plants, and Japantown’s Know Future Gallery, where she co-runs the art gallery, shop, and studio space. In both places, she plays nurturer and steward, caring for the surrounding natural and artistic ecosystems.
Roan’s paintings of plants and wildlife are lush and luminescent, evidence of her careful attention to detail. Her garden—filled with native plants like manzanita and sticky monkey-flowers, as well as creatures like cats, chickens, and bees—offers no shortage of inspiration. As the garden cycles through seasons and shifts in light, color, and shadow, each of her paintings functions as a snapshot, helping her to process events. “I’m so obsessed with getting the value and color—all that stuff— to be as glowy as I see it with my own eyes,” she says. As much as this fidelity serves her observations, it is also her way of sharing her passion and engaging viewers’ curiosity about the natural life around them. “When I paint the plants in my garden, I’m hoping that when people see it, they’re like, ‘What is this plant?’ and I get to tell them about it.”
An avid reader, Roan sees her life in a series of chapters. Born and raised in the Philippines, her parents encouraged her early love of drawing by providing her with art supplies and taking her to workshops. She found more creative outlets at school such as nationally ranked art classes and the environmental club she founded, where they made zines and buttons about ecological issues. Her father’s job took the family to the United States after she finished high school. She enrolled in art classes at De Anza College and San José State University, including a class on color theory— which she credits as “the most impactful class I’ve ever taken. It leveled up my painting conceptually and visually.” Classmates who became friends in turn formed the basis of her creative community. She participated in group art shows, where she met her husband, fellow artist Sean Boyles.
Roan’s earlier work was more figurative, and her gradual transition to focusing on nature began after moving out as a young adult. Moving into a new duplex afforded her an entire backyard available to fill with whatever plants she could desire. So naturally, she enrolled in horticulture classes at Foothill College and worked for a landscaper specializing in California native plants. Her passion for gardening and horticulture grew such that, as she recounts, “I was going to give up painting and art—I can’t multitask. I [must] put my whole brainpower into one thing.”
To meld her passions, she incorporated flora and fauna into her work. She made a series of drawings and paintings in 2012 that showcased figures with California native plants erupting from their heads—an effort to express the fullness of her new preoccupation. As she took on more commissions, various clients suggested removing the figures. She describes her solution: “I would focus more on, ‘I really like this plant,’ or ‘I really like these birds.’ I would put all those things—minus a figure.” Using her garden as a never-ending source of material, she developed a proposal for San José Mineta International Airport while watching creatures flying in and out of her garden. The resulting work, Frequent Flyers (2025), acquaints travelers with our region’s hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.
While Roan has consistently participated in art shows and created commissioned work throughout her career, her primary focus for a long time was not her own studio practice. From 2011 to 2022, Roan and Sean owned and operated the Arsenal, which had snowballed from an initial T-shirt printing business to a full-blown art supply store where they also taught art classes and exhibited artists. Roan marvels, “the Arsenal was so crazy. It was, like, how many businesses in one? And, like, how many jobs?” Eleven years and a global pandemic later, the end of the store’s Japantown lease brought an opportunity to reassess priorities. The couple decided to close the Arsenal and dedicate more time to their own art. By a stroke of serendipity, an artist studio space a few blocks away was available for rent.
In the spirit of commitment to San Jose’s arts community, Know Future shares certain elements with the Arsenal, including an art gallery and a store in the front. Studio space in the back is dedicated for the four co-operators and resident artists—Roan, Sean, Fernando Quinones (aka Nandoid), and Jessica Mendez— who take turns curating each month’s gallery exhibition. The arrangement maintains a space for other local artists to show their work and host events, while allowing each co-operator the time and flexibility to focus on creating their own work.
Now with the freedom to pursue more personal projects, Roan is in an introspective period. In October 2026, her first solo exhibition since 2019 opens at Obelisk Gallery in Santa Clara. Titled Review, the show will look back on the past year, both in Roan’s life and the world at large, with each month paired with a distinct painting and a “tabloid” publication with commentary from the artist.
For Roan, the last few autumns have come with losing loved ones, including the death last year of her 19-year-old cat Amelie, who was a beloved part of Roan’s transition into adulthood. Her paintings of falling leaves convey mourning and processing the end of a chapter. The exhibition balances moments of grief with growth and rebirth, such as pink manzanita blossoms glowing in the sun to represent the month of January.
Roan’s paintings allow a glimpse into her world while also reflecting our collective experiences. “The only way I can tell a story is through my own eyes,” Roan says. “A lot of my work needs to be from my experience, from what I know, because when I’m painting, I need to put my whole brain, my whole self in it. No matter what it is, no matter how small, it needs to be something that’s really treating me.”
Instagram: roanvictor
