From grief to play, Joey Montealegre creates new art—his way
In his early 20s, Joey Montealegre stared down a nightmare few could imagine. In late 2024, nearing Christmastime, the young artist was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, a rare and terrifying “flesh-eating” infection that destroys skin, fat, and fascia in hours. It spreads fast, it kills fast, and he had a 46 percent chance of surviving.
A left-handed graphic artist, he saw his hands not just as tools but as conduits of expression, closely linked to his career and identity as an artist. But in around 24 hours, everything he knew about life and creation was ripped away.
Fighting for his life
Montealegre recalls how, out of nowhere, a sudden raging fever and joint pain escalated into unbearable agony overnight despite his high pain tolerance. At first, he was misdiagnosed in the ER until he was eventually rushed to surgery.
He recalls being surrounded by doctors who were just as shocked at the sudden escalation of events. “When I saw their faces, I knew the doctors were in shock. Maybe because it was rare or the first time they’ve experienced it… They called in an orthopedic surgeon, and I told her, ‘Look, I’m left-handed, I’m an artist. So please save the arm, the hand, whatever.’ And she just stared at me.”
Later on, they cut open Montelaegre’s arm to remove the bacteria. Still, he went into septic shock. Eventually, they had to remove his left arm totally. At one point, 12 IV bags were connected to him, and his organs began to fail. At a certain point, the doctors suggested dialysis and advanced life support.
The young artist remembers how he celebrated his Noche Buena in the ICU after the life-changing surgery that led to the removal of his arm.
But endlessly positive, he shares, “It was an interesting experience. I felt safer at that point. My sister brought food, and it was a good thing I didn’t have dietary restrictions, so I was so happy. My Christmas wish was to get discharged from the ICU to a regular room, so that happened, too.”
Relearning how to create
After a few weeks in the hospital, Montealegre was having a quiet day that led him to be consumed by his thoughts. Feeling miserable, he perked up when a surgery resident doctor recognized him and his artwork from Instagram.
“She told me that she was looking forward to seeing more art from me,” he recalls. “That gave me some sense of normalcy. I don’t have a lot of followers on Instagram, and out of all of the places, it was in the hospital that someone knew my art. I was really encouraged.”
But no longer able to use his dominant hand as a left-handed artist, everything Montealgre had known about creating had to be relearned. And relearning he did.
In his newly opened solo exhibition “Making it Right,” the evolving artist presents new artwork—graphic work, mixed media, drawing, and photography—all of which reclaim creativity from the wreckage of trauma.
Nearly every day, Montealgre shares that he practices the alphabet as he accustoms himself to using his right hand. And for this exhibition, he took the simple exercise further. Zoomed in and transposed onto a black background, one of the artworks shows letters composed in blue ink on lined paper.
“After the hospital, I wondered what I would say to the people that I love. What would I say if I told them goodbye? I wrote it down on paper and folded it intentionally, appearing crumpled,” he says of his work.
Colorful but messy
There are also scans that show his occupational therapy with his hands, haunting palms pushing past the frames, sketched on with a marker. He also created art from his IV lines, recalling the 12 IV bags from his time in the ICU, now made colorful with bright flowers, surrounded by squiggly lines, transforming a sterile instrument into something beautiful.
“I really didn’t know what was going to happen after I got discharged. Looking back, I thought, this is what life is now. It’s somehow colorful but messy, and I’m really trying to live life to the fullest of its potential,” Montealgre explains.
Other artworks show photographs he took on a trip to Hong Kong. Among the exhibited pieces is his hospital bracelet, with a yellow bracelet labeled “All risk” in large letters. The list of names of over a dozen doctors is pasted at the center.
He also shows his process, from going back to basics as he practices handwriting the alphabet to experimenting with colored markers.
All together, the work seems to suggest the differences between his left brain and right brain, with every stroke and line more deliberate than ever. If you look at his past work as a left-handed graphic artist, you would find an exacting, precise style of design and illustration.
As he shows his creations with his right hand in “Making it Right,” you find how Montealegre is exercising another part of his brain. Inevitably, the artist’s style has changed, but in a manner that is vibrant, expressionist, and childlike in a way, building new neural pathways that reshape how he creates.
“Making it Right”
Underneath a soft-spoken, kind, and gentle exterior, it’s clear that this young artist has wells of strength within him. And there’s no way he’s going to go down without a fight.
As he continues to transition into a new normal, Montealegre shares, “It really helped me when I saw people who showed love. I think that was something that made me realize that no matter how dark it got, I’m not going to be alone.”
In “Making it Right,” there is grief in his work, but there is also play. He does not seem bitter either, but grateful for all those who have helped him along the way. And through his new work, full of color and shape, Montealegre chronicles his courage to start again, his way.
“Making it Right” by Joey Montealegre runs from March 1 to 8, 2026 at RiseSpace Art Gallery, Comuna Bldg., Makati City
