Jonathan was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. At 17, he was selected as one of five students from around the world to study at St Oswald’s Academy in London, where he completed an intensive, five-year apprenticeship in traditional drawing, painting, sculpture and geometry. These principles continue to inform his rigorous approach to painting and art practice. Founded on an intimate understanding of painting and art history, his work explores the relationship between his body, time and the earth, each of which serve as materials and as inspiration. Using a variety of media including egg tempera, mountain rocks and ochre in his paintings, he situates the body as an organic presence at one with the landscape, at the same time integrating the landscape physically in the human act of painting. Our relationship with Jonathan was born from a seven-month residency he undertook at Fogo, on The Marchmont Estate in the Scottish Borders. During the residency, Jonathan developed the sculptural side of his practice, citing a range of influences across history and culture: Cycladic sculpture; Celtic monuments; Midcentury modernist British sculpture, African ritual masks and Michelangelo’s Pieta; the works of Isamu Noguchi and Constantin Brancusi; Japanese Zen painting and the art of Jackson Hlungwani. Jonathan has exhibited internationally since 2007, with group and solo exhibitions in London, Cape Town, Amsterdam, Johannesburg and Edinburgh, including a major commission by The Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg. His work is represented in collections worldwide including SAB Miller, Nirox Foundation and the private collection of HM King Charles III.

What Value does Craft have in daily life?

I would say the most important area of my practice is to do with an alchemical relationship between material and my body. I’m trying to dissolve the line between myself and ‘nature’. Whether I’m making paint from ground mountain rocks or carving wood from a fallen tree, the most direct route to a deeper connection for me exists in the dimension of craft, making something with my hands. My training was very traditional, and although I have found my way towards a more contemporary language, I feel like the act of making, the honing of my craft, the resonance that has come over the years of learning and experimenting, is where I locate myself most intimately.

What does Scottishness mean to you?

I was born in Cape Town and left for London age 17, where I spent 10 years, 7 of which were undertaking a rigorous apprenticeship in fine art, traditional techniques, geometry and philosophy. I grew up under a mountain and next to the ocean and after the years in London I felt myself drained and depleted, I was yearning to be amongst the mountains again, to have direct access to wild places. Moving to Scotland has been a revelation. I’ve been here for about 20 years now, with some gaps in-between. My studio is surrounded by fields and is located in the shadow of the Ochil Hills, near to the majestic Highlands. I feel the vibration of the vast, empty wild North blowing through my work. Scotland to me is this wildness, an ancient wind blowing through you. I love it here.