Hothouse

Jill Arwen Posadas

7 – 27 May 2021

ArtistSpace | Virtual 
Ground Level Ayala Museum Annex, Makati Avenue corner De La Rosa Street, Greenbelt Park, Makati City 1224 Philippines

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“Plant Monsters” Bloom at the Virtual ArtistSpace

Virtual ArtistSpace presents HOTHOUSE, the first virtual and 16th solo exhibition of Filipino visual artist and writer, Jill Arwen Posadas.

Flowering plants and the human figure come together in Hothouse, the latest series from Posadas. It features a collection of half-human, half-plant portraits rendered in watercolors to approximate the presentation of traditional botanical illustrations.

The exhibition’s theme is a hothouse, a type of greenhouse wherein the temperature is controlled for plant cultivation. “I want to explore the concept of part-plant, part-human monsters in an enclosed or protected, artificial environment,” Posadas says.

“While a greenhouse might be a visual metaphor for a sheltered life or a form of captivity or isolation, I find this theme particularly relevant during the current community quarantines.”

In creating the works for this exhibition, the artist used plants that are endemic to or found in the Philippines. Though hothouses are usually for taking care of rare and expensive plants, Posadas has deliberately included plants that are commonly found throughout the country.

“Putting the exotic alongside the everyday plants within the same hothouse or gallery is an expression of my belief that all ‘species’, not just the ‘special’ ones deserve to be protected and cared for within the same greenhouse,” Posadas says.

About the Artist

Jill Arwen Posadas is an artist and a writer. Her work as an illustrator has appeared in children’s books, magazines, greeting cards, and Philippine postage stamp.

Posadas was the Grand Prize Winner of Samsung’s KidsTime Author’s Award for illustration in 2015, and she won the Ang-InK’s Best Non-Children’s Book Illustration in 2005.

Starting 2005, she has held several solo exhibitions which includes Vetro in 2019, ArtistSpace in 2017, and Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2013.

She has joined several group exhibitions which includes Ayala Museum, Vargas Museum, and Canvas Gallery and Garden. Recently, she had a group exhibition in North Dakota Museum of Art in the United States of America.

As a writer, Posadas has written copy for leading local and multinational advertising agencies, broadcasting companies, and publications. She worked in radio as a writer and newscaster for over ten years, and she now lives, paints, and works in Quezon City.

Born in Manila in 1975, Posadas earned a Communication Arts degree in Advertising from the University of Asia and the Pacific, and a Fine Arts degree in Painting from the University of the Philippines.