Jasmine Togo-Brisby

Last updated

Jasmine Togo-Brisby (born 1982) is a South Sea Islander artist known for her sculpture installations and portrait photographs. [1] [2] She currently resides in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington and is one of few artists that centres Pacific slave labour as the focus of her practice. [2]

Contents

Early life

Togo-Brisby was born in 1982 in Queensland, Australia. The early years of her life were spent in Tweed Heads, Northern New South Wales and then later in Townsville and Mackay, Queensland. She traces her ancestral lineage to the islands of Ambae and Santo that make up the Pacific nation Vanuatu. [3] [4] [5]

Her first memories of looking at South Sea archives is how her interest in photography began. South Sea Island culture developed out of these documented images. On an annual basis she remembers as a child, her community searching through archives to piece together their history and locate their ancestors. Togo-Brisby's multidisciplinary art practice is described as being "personally motivated" by curator, Gordon-Smith. [6] [7] Togo-Brisby says:

Through my work I’m trying to create another space for our ancestors to exist within. [8]

Subsequent to completing High School, TogoBrisby relocated to Brisbane in 2012 Togo-Brisby and completed a Diploma of Visual Art at the Southbank Institute of Technology. She went on to study a Bachelor Degree (Honours), in Fine Art at Massey University, Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington and Griffith University, Southbank, Brisbane completing in 2017. In 2019 she studied for a Masters in Fine Art also at Massey University. [5] [7] [9]

Career

Togo-Brisby is best known for her exploration of South Sea Islanders and the historical to present-day impact slavery has had on her community. [10]

Togo-Brisby's sculpture Bittersweet (2013–2015) was first exhibited in Aotearoa at Te Uru, curated by Ioana Gordon-Smith. [11] The catalyst for this work was the uncovering of a large scale unmarked burial ground on what was previously a plantation in the northeastern state of Queensland in Australia. The work is described: "Installed on a plinth in a dark gallery, a pile of skulls cast in unrefined sugar and resin glisten under the gallery lights, giving off a sickly-sweet smell." [2] [6]

Her exhibition Dear Mrs Wunderlich (2020), alludes to the unearthing of records she had been investigating that authenticate the blackbirding [lower-alpha 1] of her great-great-grandmother, who became the legal property of the Wunderlich family in the 1800s. [7] [12]

She opened her first major solo exhibition Hom Swit Hom (2022) at Artspace Mackay in Mackay, Queensland. [13] Togo-Brisby says:

Mackay has the largest population of Australian South Sea Islanders, so this is a monumental exhibition for me and something that has been a long time coming. [13]

Solo exhibitions

2013

2019

2020

2022

Group exhibitions

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

2022

Awards and residencies

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Blackbirding was a commonly used colloquial term for the Pacific slave trade.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Cotton</span> New Zealand artist

Shane William Cotton is a New Zealand painter whose work explores biculturalism, colonialism, cultural identity, Māori spirituality, and life and death.

Michael Te Rakato Parekōwhai is a New Zealand sculptor and a professor at the University of Auckland's Elam School of Fine Arts. He is of Ngāriki Rotoawe and Ngāti Whakarongo descent and his mother is Pākehā.

Michael "Michel" Cliff Tuffery is a New Zealand artist of Samoan, Tahitian and Cook Islands descent. He is one of New Zealand's most well known artists and his work is held in many art collections in New Zealand and around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pule</span> Niuean artist and writer (born 1962)

John Puhiatau Pule is a Niuean artist, novelist and poet. The Queensland Art Gallery describes him as "one of the Pacific's most significant artists".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fatu Feu'u</span> New Zealand artist

Fatu Akelei Feu'u is a noted Samoan painter from the village of Poutasi in the district of Falealili in Samoa. He has established a reputation as the elder statesman of Pacific art in New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yuki Kihara</span> New Zealand artist

Yuki Kihara is an interdisciplinary artist of Japanese and Samoan descent. In 2008, her work was the subject of a solo exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York; it was the first time a New Zealander and the first time a Pacific Islander had a solo show at the institution. Titled Shigeyuki Kihara: Living Photographs, the exhibition opened from 7 October 2008 to 1 February 2009. Kihara's self-portrait photographs in the exhibitions included nudes in poses that portrayed colonial images of Polynesian people as sexual objects. Her exhibition was followed by an acquisition of Kihara's work for the museum's collection.

Te Rongo Kirkwood is an artist from Auckland, New Zealand. She is known for her glass art, particularly in fused and slumped glass.

Chris Charteris is a New Zealand sculptor, jeweller and carver.

Ani O'Neill is a New Zealand artist of Cook Island and Irish descent. She has been described by art historian Karen Stevenson as one of the core members of a group of artists of Pasifika descent who brought contemporary Pacific art to "national prominence and international acceptance".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin White (artist)</span> New Zealand painter and printmaker

Dame Robin Adair White is a New Zealand painter and printmaker, recognised as a key figure in the regionalist movement of 20th-century New Zealand art.

Lonnie Hutchinson is a New Zealand artist of Māori, Samoan and European descent.

Sopolemalama Filipe Tohi is a Tongan artist who has lived in New Zealand since 1978. He has exhibited in major exhibitions in New Zealand and abroad. Several major collections include his work. The 2010 Art and Asia Pacific Almanac describes him as "Tongan art's foremost ambassador".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosanna Raymond</span> New Zealand artist

Rosanna Marie Raymond is a New Zealand artist, poet, and cultural commentator and Raymond was recognised for "Pasifika artists practicing contemporary and heritage art forms in Aotearoa," winning the Senior Pacific Artist Award Winner of 2018, at the Arts Pasifika Awards through Creative New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kushana Bush</span> New Zealand artist (born 1983)

Kushana Bush is a New Zealand artist based in Dunedin. She is best known for her paintings which typically blend historic and contemporary styles. Bush has won several awards for her works and has held international exhibitions.

Julian Hooper is an Auckland-based artist. His art has been described as "an assemblage of metaphors, shapes and forms" that "details an eclectic and imaginative visual language that delves into his personal ancestry.".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandy Adsett</span> New Zealand artist, curator, educator

Raymond Henry "Sandy" Adsett is a New Zealand visual artist and educator. He is acknowledged for championing the art of kōwhaiwhai painting, creating a context for the artform within the development of contemporary Māori art.

Marie Shannon is a New Zealand artist and educator who makes photography, video and drawing. Her artwork is in the collections of Te Papa, New Zealand's national museum, and Dunedin, Christchurch and Auckland city galleries.

Cora-Allan Lafaiki Twiss (born 1985 or 1986 is a multidisciplinary Aotearoa -based artist and full time self taught hiapo practitioner, Twiss was awarded the Arts Pasifika Award 'Pacific Heritage Artist award' in 2020 through Creative New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Amituanai</span> New Zealand Pasifika photographer

Edith Amituanai is a New Zealand photographic artist. In 2007, she was the inaugural recipient of the Marti Friedlander Photographic Award. Examples of her work are held in the collections of Te Papa, Auckland Art Gallery, and the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.

Telly Bronson Tuita is an Australian interdisciplinary artist notable for 2020 Molly Morpeth Canaday award for the work Three Graces – U'ufoasini, Akale'a, Ta'alea creating. Later in 2021 becoming a finalist for the National Contemporary Art Award for work Diasporas Children Wellington. Also notable for the creator of the fictional word 'Tongpop' defined as a combination of Tuita's adoration for dazzling, distinct hues and traditional 'Tongan ngatu patterns and religious iconography.'

References

  1. ↑ "Jasmine Togo-Brisby – Overview". Page Galleries. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "City Gallery Wellington". citygallery.org.nz. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Jasmine Togo-Brisby". Auckland Art Gallery.
  4. ↑ Teaiwa, Katerina (2021). "About the Artist: Jasmine Togo-Brisby". The Contemporary Pacific. 33 (2): vii–xv. doi:10.1353/cp.2021.0032. hdl: 10125/105256 . ISSN   1527-9464. S2CID   245337725.
  5. 1 2 Tautai (March 2019). "Jasmine Togo-Brisby" (PDF). Jasmine Togo-Brisby.
  6. 1 2 Handle With Care (PDF)
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 "Jasmine Togo-Brisby – Biography". Page Galleries. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  8. 1 2 "The past is ahead, don't look back". State Library Of Queensland. 29 July 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  9. ↑ "Dunedin School of Art Residency". Creative New Zealand.
  10. ↑ "femisphere.co.nz". femisphere.co.nz. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  11. ↑ "Jasmine Togo-Brisby: Bitter Sweet". Te Uru. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Journey Blong Yumi opens at Logan Art Gallery". State Library Of Queensland. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 "Human skulls made of sugar part of exhibition exploring Australia's dark and forgotten slave trade". ABC News. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  14. ↑ Tunstall, Elizabeth Dori. "Melbourne Fringe review: DNA (Deadly Nui Art) at Blak Dot Gallery". The Conversation. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  15. ↑ "From here and there". www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  16. ↑ Tonga, Ane; St Paul St Gallery; Pataka Porirua Museum of Arts and Cultures; Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust (2016). Influx. Auckland: Tautai Contemporary Pacific Arts Trust. ISBN   978-0-473-36895-1. OCLC   1038416076.
  17. ↑ Gordon-Smith, Ioana; Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery (2016). Handle with care. [Jasmine Togo-Brisby & Andrew Ananda Voogel]. Auckland: Te Uru Waitakere Contemporary Gallery. OCLC   1046615189.
  18. ↑ "Late Night: Tākiri, An Unfurling". Maritime Museum New Zealand. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  19. ↑ "Māori and Pacific creatives weave art and tech together for digital exhibition -". Massey University. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  20. ↑ "Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda". Auckland Art Gallery. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.