How Jonathan Dangue gives us a slice of life with his brass sculptures

In 2001, he entered the Mapúa Institute of Technology to pursue a degree in architecture but had to stop for a year due to financial struggles. During this break, he juggled jobs—working as a portrait artist and part of the service crew at Jollibee. Upon returning, Dangue bagged a scholarship to continue his studies, geared up to challenge conventional methods with his unique processes.

“In architecture, there’s a lot of planning involved. You have to start with your building concept—I did things in reverse, and my professor was so annoyed at me,” he shares with a laugh.

After graduating, Dangue went to Cebu to work for two years in a construction firm. When he returned to Manila, he got to review for the board exams to get his architectural license. While a standard review centre usually took six months, he took a year to study—determined to top the boards with two review centres. However, he did not reach his goal, placing 12th.

What would be quickly deemed as a setback actually pushed Dangue to pivot into visual arts. “If I placed any higher, I would probably not be where I am now,” he quips. 

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Grief-stricken, Dangue channelled his frustrations into a new project—his first sculpture.

“I was looking for things to do since I was so sad so I gathered some toothpicks that we’d use for architecture and created something,” he says.

Dangue then submitted his work to the Metrobank Art and Design Excellence competition where he won the grand prize—which gave him a portal to the growing Philippine art scene.

This breakthrough put him on the radar of many collectors—getting invited to Alay ng Sining at the Mandarin Hotel alongside the most prominent names, such as National Artist Abdulmari Imao, Ildefonso Paez Santos Jr, and National Artist Benedicto “BenCab” Cabrera, among others. 

While things were looking up for Dangue, his career wouldn’t take off until after his tenure at the San Sebastian Basilica. Here, he met his dear friend and fellow architect, Richard Tuason Bautista, who introduced him to the art collectors based in Malabon City. “I got adopted by Malabon, and this is where I started working with brass,” Dangue shares. 

In 2012, Dangue participated in another group exhibition at the Philippine Heart Center, where he presented his first brass work titled The Cancer Cell. In the same year, he would showcase his work at multiple shows and fairs, such as Art in the Park, MANILART, and De La Salle Lipa’s Continuum. 

He would have his first solo exhibition in 2013 under Art Verité Gallery in Bonifacio Global City titled Kabuluhan ng Buhay, where he explored life’s purpose through a mixture of his artistic and architectural selves. Upholding the philosophy of ‘function follows form’, Dangue’s first pieces are also lamps—illuminating his work so that they could stand independently. There, he met and worked with curator-artist Ricky Francisco, who was still making a name for himself at the time. “I believe my show was Ricky’s first catalogue that he designed. He also wrote the words for my show,” shares Dangue. 

From there, he would host multiple solo shows while regularly participating in group exhibitions and art fairs. So far, his proudest achievement is designing the Department of Health’s regional office in Davao—incorporating a touch of artistic flair in the technical world of architecture.

Over his decade-long career, Dangue also dabbled in other artistic mediums, such as paintings and printmaking. In 2017, he graduated from the SoFa Design Institute—taking up furniture design. While he’s already crafted a unique chair, he has yet to showcase it to the world.

Most recently, Dangue participated in his first collaborative exhibition titled Astral Bridges alongside painter Francis Nacion. He shares that he lived with Nacion and his family during the creation of their pieces—exchanging ideas and their shared obsession with alternate realities and portals.

As for the future, Dangue teases a show in October that makes use of silver with his signature brass. “I’m playing around the idea of ‘silver lining’, but it’s too early to tell,” he says.

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Renowned for his brasswork, Dangue found that the alloy would call to him. Similar in colour to wood, which he often worked with as an architect, brass uniquely captures his life journey, unlike other metals.

“Brass is a reflection of me—if you polish it, it shines. But if you neglect it, it’ll darken,” says Dangue.

Dangue’s creative process is something that takes plenty of effort—both mentally and physically. Preferring to take his time during conceptualisation, he often sequesters himself to think and meditate—only getting started on creating his pieces a few weeks before a show. When it’s time to turn brass into art, he bends each metal plate, ribbon, or bar by hand.

“When I bend brass, it’s like I’m transferring my energy into it. After that, I speak to it and it shows me its message,” he says.

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