Yvonne Quisumbing
Bio
Yvonne Quisumbing’s (b.1975, Cebu, Philippines; lives and works in Cebu) Apothecary series—renderings and vignettes of Philippine medicinal plants as symbols of hope and well-being—has been the impetus for her work since 2019. In each of her pieces, she meditates upon the physical human condition and the factors that disrupt its equilibrium. She explores ailments or states of mind and body with depictions of native herbs as symbols and allegories to illustrate her inquiries.
With her 20-year discipline in design and as a patternmaker and seamstress, she applies to her paintings’ substrates the sculptural dimensionality borne from her sartorial background. She reshapes or molds industrial materials like aluminum and fiber glass, and meticulously paints renditions of her subject matter onto these surfaces. Recurring motifs of clothing and masks as veils of stirrings and subcurrents have been the basis of her work since her f irst solo show in 2005.
Quisumbing earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas. Born in Cebu, she established her studio amid farmland in barangay Lugo in Borbon, Cebu - a two-hour drive north of Cebu City. Lugo is currently a sanctuary for birds as well as for Quisumbing: a direct relief from the congested city where thoughts and ideas come in better clarity, away from the constant chatter and blaring traffic.
Yvonne Quisumbing’s (b.1975, Cebu, Philippines; lives and works in Cebu) Apothecary series—renderings and vignettes of Philippine medicinal plants as symbols of hope and well-being—has been the impetus for her work since 2019. In each of her pieces, she meditates upon the physical human condition and the factors that disrupt its equilibrium. She explores ailments or states of mind and body with depictions of native herbs as symbols and allegories to illustrate her inquiries.
With her 20-year discipline in design and as a patternmaker and seamstress, she applies to her paintings’ substrates the sculptural dimensionality borne from her sartorial background. She reshapes or molds industrial materials like aluminum and fiber glass, and meticulously paints renditions of her subject matter onto these surfaces. Recurring motifs of clothing and masks as veils of stirrings and subcurrents have been the basis of her work since her f irst solo show in 2005.
Quisumbing earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Santo Tomas. Born in Cebu, she established her studio amid farmland in barangay Lugo in Borbon, Cebu - a two-hour drive north of Cebu City. Lugo is currently a sanctuary for birds as well as for Quisumbing: a direct relief from the congested city where thoughts and ideas come in better clarity, away from the constant chatter and blaring traffic.
