Artist Statement
My artwork is a celebration of the complexity of self-portraiture and the intersections of my personal story with narratives and symbols of contemporary American culture. I work in a variety of media including installation, photography, video, and sculpture. I love that I can craft objects and stories. I also love that I can use my body to perform the roles of various characters in these stories, and then use my body to create physical and immersive spaces for these characters to exist. I believe that my artwork generates a sense of joy which comes from experiencing an intentional fullness within the art — a depth of layers packed with both familiar and surprising meanings and aesthetics.
Jeffrey Augustine Songco (b. 1983) is a multidisciplinary artist. Born and raised in New Jersey to devout Catholic Filipino immigrants, his artistic identity developed at a young age with training in classical ballet, voice, and musical theater. He holds a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA from San Francisco Art Institute. His artwork has been exhibited throughout the USA including Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience in Seattle, SPRING/BREAK Art Show in New York City, the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, and the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. He is featured in the publication Queering Contemporary Asian American Art, and his own writings have appeared in Art21 Blog, Bad at Sports, HuffPost, and Hyperallergic. He resides in Allendale, Michigan.
