Artist Statement

I paint stories I love - the ones that cause me to pause and reflect on my analytical or emotional responses. As someone who is perpetually planning for the future, purposeful storytelling keeps me grounded in the present. By tapping into a (somewhat) alarming breadth of experiences I attempt to provide a tangible stepping stone to adventure and a push at the realm of possibility, allowing the audience to escape their own perspectives and appreciate an alternative.

Vivid imagery is distilled down to key representational elements that are then crafted to fantastical painting standards. Cavalierly and wholeheartedly drawn into new escapades, I explore how to better draw people together with visual storytelling, communicating surprising commonalities across disparate disciplines to inspire.

Current personal work studies the relationships involved in biotechnology, drawing upon his previous life as an immuno-oncology scientist.

Artist Bio

Jonathan Soriano grew up in New Jersey, USA born in 1988 to Filipino immigrants. While he developed an affinity for art in high school, his parents’ medical and veterinary influences led him to his first wonderful life adventures in biotechnology and drug discovery. After 12 years focused on science, building immuno-oncology therapeutics through protein engineering and gene editing, in 2024 the stars aligned for the chance to pursue his formative passion for painting. Having learned that moderation is not his strong suit, Jonathan seized this opportunity to trade the pipette for the paintbrush.

Jonathan lives in Boston, MA currently studying at the Academy of Realist Art Boston, using this second chapter of his life to develop the artistic skills to support impactful stories. His childhood work is cherished by his family but his emerging fundamental work has been taken in by private companies in MA.

Education

Academy of Realist Art Boston (2024 - current)
Boston University, Masters of Arts in Medical Sciences (2012)
Tufts University, Bachelors of Science in Biology (2010)

Publications and Presentations

  • Peptide‑HLA‑based immunotherapeutics platforms for direct modulation of antigen‑specific T cells (Nature Portfolio, Scientific Reports · Sep 2021)

  • CUE-101, a novel HPV16 E7 pHLA-IL2-Fc fusion protein, enhances tumor antigen specific T cell activation for the treatment of HPV16-driven malignancies - (Clinical Cancer Research · Jan 2020)

  • A novel engineered fusion protein effectively targets and expands disease-specific anti-tumor T cells - (The Essential Protein Engineering & Cell Therapy Summit Boston · Apr 2019)

  • The emerging contribution of social wasps to grape rot disease ecology - (Peer Journal · Apr 2017)

  • Actinomycetes with antimicrobial activity isolated from paper wasp (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Polistinae) nests - (Environmental Entomology · Jan 2013)

Soriano 2005