Jonathan McFadden

Jonathan McFadden recieved his MFA in Printmaking from Edinburgh College of Art (U.K.) in 2009, and his BFA in Printmaking and BA in French in 2006 from Texas State University- San Marcos.

Jonathan Has exhibited in two doezen states throughout the U.S. and a dozen countries including at the National Gallery of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy, University of Texas- San Antonio, University of Wisconsin- Madison, University of Minnesota, 621 Gallery, Highpoint Center For Printmaking, Wichita State University, Millsaps College, 55 Limited, and Inner Mongolia University to name a few.

His numerous residencies include Anchor Graphics at Columbia College, 55 Limited, a Jerome Residency at Highpoint Center For Printmaking, The Prairie Center of The Arts, John David Mooney Foundation, and Cove Park. He has tought at Houston Community College, Minnesota State University- Mankato and is currently an Assistant Professor of Print Media in the School of Art & Visual Studies at the University of Kentucky.

Artist Statement

My work is centered on connections, be it between imagery, text, found and mass-produced objects I seek to create narrative contingencies by linking information. This information is largely taken from and influenced by social media posts, cell phone photography, online advertising, to name a few. From the sourced information look for connections between the objects and information seeking out what is real and a facsimile. This may include a cctv camera streaming an image of a fake houseplant on a mass-produced shelf that hold both an original print and a object that utilized the documentation of that print. I seek then to create a dialogue with the viewer about the value of objects and their hierarchy when placed together and in conjunction with the seemingly ephemeral nature of social media linguistics.

I am interested how we interact with, interpret and process fragments of personal narratives of people we have loose associations with yet have found ourselves a voyeur in the personal moments of their life. While this could be considered ephemeral imagery because it only is in our feeds temporarily these digital images have a permanence and history that exists beyond the few seconds we view them on our computers or phones. By utilizing this information for object creation the ephemeral take on a static permanence altering how the information is consumed and allows the viewer to engage in new dialogues with the work.