Artist Bree Jonson Has Passed Away

It’s a sad day for the local arts scene as up-and-coming artist Bree Jonson passed away. Over the last few years, artist Bree Jonson’s star had been steadily on the rise. Known best for her work that explores the relationship between mankind and the environment, Bree had just opened a studio in La Union. 

Several galleries, including León Gallery, paid tribute to the artist: “Her works act as a visual and critical commentary on the contemporary human experience in contrast with the idea of human nature itself,” the gallery wrote on Facebook. “The result is a novel critique of our intuitive sense of anthropocentrism amidst our ever-expanding knowledge of nature and the world.”

In an interview with Art and Market last year, Bree said: “I already knew from the start that I wanted to be in the creative field. At various points in my life, I had written, played music, and drew, and my first passion is writing and literature. In fact, most of my sketches are rough lines and words, rather than fully fleshed-out figures.”

“It is the art that keeps me going, and nothing else,” she continued. “The ultimate ideal is to find a higher order that is above the chaos of modern life. Art is refinement even in its brutishness and destitution. And for me, a relevant, timeless message that I want to deliver with my work is the connection we have with nature, and the need to revive that. The world is bigger than just us humans, and there are others that are equally as important. My mission is to find new ways to reconnect.”

Bree’s work has been exhibited in various galleries, from Art Informal in Manila to Yavuz Gallery in Singapore; UP Vargas Museum to BenCab Museum; and last year’s Art Fair Philippines as well the 2018 Sydney Contemporary.  

Lead photos from @breejonson