Jonas Wood

The American artist Jonas Wood’s densely patterned, autobiographical paintings merge 20th century Cubist tropes with aspects of contemporary American life. Challenging the viewer’s sense of perspective, his fragmented compositions tie together different techniques and spatial experimentations, with the plants, flowers and pots that recur in his works presented as symbols of domesticity and the still life tradition.

Inspired by Hockney, Matisse and van Gogh, Wood is famous for working almost entirely from his own drawings and sketches. His style oscillates between figuration and abstraction, fusing different influences and media, from collages, drawing and photography to Pop Art. “You could call [my work] a visual diary or even a personal history. I’m not going to paint something that doesn’t have anything to do with me,” he says.

Born in 1977 in Boston, Wood initially studied psychology at Hobart and William Smith Colleges in New York state. Working in a research lab to support his painting practice, he took up an MFA in Painting and Drawing at the University of Washington in Seattle, graduating in 2002. Settling in Los Angeles, he began assisting the American painter Laura Owens, sharing a studio with his future wife, the ceramic artist Shio Kusaka. Many mutual influences can be seen in the couple's respective works.