Jel Suarez (b. 1990) is a visual artist born and based in Manila, Philippines. Her craft is centered on the practice of collage, in which mostly old master works of art and past exhibitions – sourced from old books and catalogues – are intricately cut in an unconscious process. Her fascination with the body of draperies and structures, allows her to form, paint, and sculpt them in her attempt to produce ideas, narratives, dimensions, and landscapes.

The act of manipulating the archives is her way of understanding reproduced images – further distorting its original sense, and fragmenting them into multiple meanings.

Suarez has been exhibiting her works since 2014, with solo exhibitions at Vinyl On Vinyl Gallery, and several group shows under Artinformal Gallery, Underground Gallery, VOV Gallery, Blanc Gallery, etc. She has also participated in art fairs here in Manila, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore.

Her work can be found on her website.

During the first month of my artist residency, I plan to finish my pieces for an upcoming exhibition this June at Underground Gallery (Manila). The themes and focus of my work have shifted since last year’s proposal project – triggered by the current madness and repercussions of the Philippine government’s war on drugs, I seek to explore and intersect a narrative of its influence on our country’s social fabric. I want to develop new works which will look at how it has possibly structured the society’s landscape and perception of power, social class, and human life.

Rimbun Dahan’s living environment is ideal for cathartic work. I think that the cultural and creative dialogue between me and its resident artists will help strengthen my practice and extend the narrative for this project.