Jonathan Farrell was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1985 and achieved great distinction in his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2011 at the University of Saskatchewan. His recent exhibitions include a group showing that included the talents of Contemporary Chinese artists in the Warman, SK show, 'Fair Breeze' (August 2018) and a solo retrospective of his works at Saskatoon's City Hospital (July 2018). His works belong in numerous private collections as well as the University of Saskatchewan alumni collection.

A personal message from the artist -

Thank you so much for taking the time to look through my Etsy shop! My hope is that you are blessed, and that the themes of love and wisdom are felt through these artworks. As you might have noticed, figurative work (studies of the human body) has predominated most of my recent art exploration.

Themes that I formerly explored in my acrylic and oil paintings included a concern for social justice such as when my Bachelor of Fine Art’s graduation show consisted of acrylic and oil portraits that honored individuals with intellectual disabilities. As I have grown in my craft, however, my focus has narrowed towards the sublime; my more recent acrylic figurative works revolve around my spiritual exploration. Employing an art style that reveals my expressionistic subjectivity, my choice of a high-key colour palette, and gestural mark-making hopefully imbues my work with the energy and excitement that is normally relegated to drawing, yet retains the sensitivity and skill of high-realism painting. Leaning heavily on the principle of optical colour mixing, I love exploring how brushstrokes can appear to be jarring, loose, and abstract when viewed closely, but then, when the same painting is viewed from a distance, these brushstrokes can lock together to create a cohesive, highly representational whole. By giving room for expression in my work, I ultimately invite the viewer to move past a cerebral analysis of my visual observations and be impacted by my emotional response to my subjects.

I find fulfilment in taking time to meditate and pray and have intentionally left the exact meanings of each piece in this collection allusive in order to allow each viewer to bring their own interpretation. However, through the strategic use of titles I hope to guide my audience's focus towards the themes of love, wisdom, and, ultimately, redemption and hope.

As an artist, I am open to commissions. If you are interested in portrait work, caricatures, or personalized artwork please feel free to contact me at jon316 [!at] sasktel.net.

You can also find and follow me on Facebook at: Jonathan Allan Farrell, and on Instagram at jonathanfarrell316.