Born in Quezon City, Philippines, and named after Jade’s mother’s beauty salon, they then grew up in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and immigrated to Vancouver, BC, Canada, which is on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples. He currently lives in Chicago, IL, USA, which sits on the traditional unceded homelands of the Council of the Three Fires.

Jade is an Associate Professor in the Department of Fiber and Material Studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.