Jonathan Bolton

Simpsonville, SC

My drawing practice consists of observational drawing and sketching from life. I recontextualize my observations by altering forms and embedding subjects in dense fields of graphite marks. The figures and spaces drawn from my everyday life imbue my work with feelings of home, memory, nostalgia, and routine.



My current series Nausea disrupts figure-ground relationships with tightly rendered and obliterated forms that occupy the same space. Underpinned by themes of absurdism, phenomenology, and existentialism, my drawings highlight the susceptibility of visual perception by embracing the essential properties of graphite in a two-dimensional space -- how meaning and presence is shifted by the simplest addition and subtraction of material.



I earned my BFA from Winthrop University, and my MFA from Clemson University. I am a drawing instructor for Clemson University. I currently work out of Oyé Studios, an artists' cooperative in downtown Greenville, SC.

Artist Website

www.jonboltonfa.com