Jasmine Togo-Brisby

Jasmine Togo-Brisby (born 1982) is a South Sea Islander artist known for her sculpture installations and portrait photographs. She currently resides in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington and is one of few artists that centres Pacific slave labour as the focus of her practice.

Her first memories of looking at South Sea archives is how her interest in photography began. South Sea Island culture developed out of these documented images. On an annual basis she remembers as a child, her community searching through archives to piece together their history and locate their ancestors. Togo-Brisby's multidisciplinary art practice is described as being "personally motivated" by curator, Gordon-Smith. Togo-Brisby says: Through my work I’m trying to create another space for our ancestors to exist within.

Career Togo-Brisby is best known for her exploration of South Sea Islanders and the historical to present-day impact slavery has had on her community.

Togo-Brisby's sculpture Bittersweet (2013–2015) was first exhibited in Aotearoa at Te Uru, curated by Ioana Gordon-Smith. The catalyst for this work was the uncovering of a large scale unmarked burial ground on what was previously a plantation in the northeastern state of Queensland in Australia. The work is described: "Installed on a plinth in a dark gallery, a pile of skulls cast in unrefined sugar and resin glisten under the gallery lights, giving off a sickly-sweet smell." Togo-Brisby says: Mackay has the largest population of Australian South Sea Islanders, so this is a monumental exhibition for me and something that has been a long time coming. 2014 DNA: Deadly Nui Art, Black Dot Gallery, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Artists: Jasmine Togo-Brisby, Tony Tai, Damien Shen, Mariaa Randall, Francis Tapueluelu, Chanel Winarti, and Lily Aitui Laita 2015 Fish hooks & Moving Trees (touring exhibition), BEMAC, Brisbane + Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery, Queensland, Australia 2016 Influx (touring exhibition), St Paul Street Gallery, Auckland + Pataka Art + Museum, Porirua, Wellington Handle with Care, Te Uru, Auckland Fifty Shades of Blak, Black Dot Gallery, Victoria, Australia Beyond Kapene Kuku/Captain Cook, Page Blackie Gallery, Wellington 2020

Mana Moana:Volume 2: Digital Ocean, (17–25 July) Wellington, New Zealand. Artists: Dr Karlo Mila, Michel Tuffery, Dr Johnson Witehira, Warren Maxwell, Jasmine Togo-Brisby, Kereama Taepa, Louise Potiki Bryant, Tina Ngata, Terri Ripeka Crawford, Kura Puke, Stuart Foster, Kurt Komene, Horomona Horo, Laughton Kora, Regan Balzer, Cathy Livermore, Jess Feast, Rob Thorne. Curated by Rachael Rakena and Mike Bridgman 2022

Declaration: A Pacific Feminist Agenda, Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki, Tāmaki Makarau, New Zealand. Artists: Jasmine Togo-Brisby, Marti Friedlander, Jessicoco Hansell, Taloi Havini, Lonnie Hutchinson, Ioane Ioane, Sione Monū, Suzanne Tāmaki, Latai Taumoepeau, Molly Rangiwai-McHale & Luisa Tora and Kalisolaite ’Uhila.

Awards and residencies 2016 – Pasifika Excellence Awards – Massey University 2017 – Pasifika Excellence Awards – Massey University 2019 – Tautai | Otago Polytechnic Dunedin School of Art – Artist in Residence

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