Description
‘Coddled’ by Jon MacNair
Artist: Jon MacNair
Title: ‘Coddled’
Medium: India Ink on Paper
Dimensions: 14” x 18”
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2017
About the Artwork:
“For my piece I decided to draw upon one of my reoccurring characters as the subject of the scene. These masked and robed figures are known as my ‘harbingers’ and I have done quite a few works involving them over the last few years. They tend to represent a certain emotion or are a personification of that feeling. These feelings usually lean toward the darker end of the spectrum of human emotion and can be anything from fear to anxiety or chaos. In this piece I went in a slightly different direction and wanted to make the scene a bit more open to interpretation. The title of the work is ‘Coddled’ and I was specifically thinking about how in my work, an idea slowly comes to life and eventually becomes a drawing, with a bit of nurturing and attention. So many ideas for works seem to kick around in my head for years. Sometimes the best ideas only come to fruition with much diligence and attention in developing them into something that can be executed on the paper. Like many living things, without care and nurturing, they will die. The ‘harbinger’ in this piece can be seen as a caretaker, doting on the creature it holds in its arms. As a person who makes images, this piece is essentially about rescuing a good idea from oblivion and raising it up to be something that will spark the interest in those who look at it.” – Jon MacNair
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
Jon MacNair was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in the suburbs of southeast Michigan near Detroit. He graduated from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2005, where he earned a BFA in Illustration. His commercial work has appeared in editorial publications and mainly been used for apparel and package design.
Clients include: Monument Snowboards, 21st Amendment Brewery, Grove, Corpse Corps Boards, Willamette Week, On3P Skis, The Stranger, Gigantic Brewing, Tooth & Nail Records, Closed Casket Activities, Baltimore Magazine, Annalemma, Urbanite Magazine, Baltimore City Paper, Slice Literary Magazine, Pittsburgh City Paper, The Riverfront Times, The Washington Square Review and Computer Arts Projects.
In addition to freelance illustration, he frequently exhibits his personal work in galleries around the U.S. and abroad. Cities include New York, Chicago, Portland, San Francisco, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Seattle, Tokyo, Glasgow, Paris and Hamburg. Notable exhibitions include the annual group show at La Luz de Jesus Gallery and The BLAB! Show at Copro Gallery in 2010. Publications like Beautiful Decay, Elle Girl, Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose have also featured his work.
Jon currently resides in Austin Texas where he divides his time between freelance projects and creating personal work for exhibitions.
“Jon MacNair opens windows into cryptic worlds with his monochromatic pen-and-ink drawings. His work has a decidedly vintage, if not medieval, feel. The artist renders elaborate depictions of self-created myths and legends, but rather than being grandiose, the tone of his work is self-aware and humorous.” (Hi-Fructose Magazine)
“Jon MacNair’s illustrations are to-the-point and communicative, summing up big ideas in beautifully clear and whimsical imagery. His fine art pieces are mysterious and dreamlike, often encapsulating entire narratives within one image.” (Lost At E Minor)