Small galleries always have repeat artists. Jill St. Onge was one of ours. She participated in the first group exhibition Riley and I curated together: The Art of Deception—Politics in Art. She was with us at the start of our TShirt Is Art exhibitions, working on our ‘street team’ helping us out with guerrilla style marketing. Spiked Illusions was also part of TSIA 2. Jill colored some pictures for The Great Crayon Experiment. This past October Jill was part of our Red White & Pie Exhibition. Jill was a very active artist in our community.
Seattle artist Jill St. Onge died a suddenly after sleeping for several hours in an air-conditioned bungalow in Thailand. It was the last leg of 3-month journey through SE Asia with her fiance Ryan Kells. They were on the island of Phi Phi, just an island away from where Riley and I stayed in Thailand. Her brothers have put together a blog to keep us updated. They are doing their best to get as much media coverage as possible in an effort to get some actual answers about her mysterious death and to prevent future deaths (two other tourist staying in the bungalow next to them became ill with similar symptoms, one of whom died). List of news links.
We received the shocking news on Thursday, right before Art Walk. It seemed appropriate to be surrounded by art and artists as I was thinking about Jill, Ryan, and their families. Our interactions with Jill were always positive. She was truly a lover of the arts, passionate about her work, and so supportive of Blank Space. Jill we will miss you.
Click here to donate to the Jill St. Onge Memorial fund. Here are a few of the pieces we have exhibited over the past 3 years:
TShirts / Hoodies by Spike Illusions (Jill St. Onge)
Contemporary funerary mask, Jill St. Onge
Gas Mask, Jill St. Onge