Jon
Jon is good with his hands, so it is fitting then, that they are big.
Disproportionately so.
They are broad and scarred like the metal blades of a shovel and equally attuned to graft.
They often emerge from the sleeves of good quality shirts and jackets, because whether at work or at leisure, Jon is always well turned out.
Jon is left-handed. Many lefties (myself included) have appalling penmanship, having been taught how to write, as is more than likely statistically, by a right-handed person.
Not Jon.
He holds a pen lightly in his hand, like it were a divining instrument and in his case it often is.
He coaxes lines and letters from a page as a maestro might the delicate arpeggios of a sonata from the air before them.
Jon is many things and he is (frustratingly) good at all of them.
Jon is an artist.
Jon is my friend.
Nick Tabone, October ‘24
Q: What are you currently working on? What excites you?
Right now I'm figuring out how work works. Maintaining a consistent practice, paying the bills and grappling with time as a commodity. I'm excited when things make sense, images and materials, food, wine, people, ideas. I tear up in conversations when ideas and positions are understood. Invariably it's fleeting, but it all leaves a mark.
Q: What do you think is the role of art in addressing societal issues in our current climate?
I don't think there should be a demand for art to address anything specific. It does because art deals with the ideas of being, of intuiting truths. Its nature allows work to encapsulate broader societal feelings whilst focusing in on specific questions if it chooses.
Q: What’s the one thing people often misrepresent about you or your art?
I have no idea. I suppose I'm never fully seen as a person in the same way none of us are ever fully seen, but that’s ok. My work isn't really that didactic, I enjoy readings l didn't see before, so I think misrepresentation isn't possible.
Q: Do you agree with the latest overflow of ‘vulnerability’ on social media — does it help our society become better?
I’m not really aware of it. I appreciate openness, I’m wary of declaring the truest versions of things, it runs the risk ignoring the genuine. It might not always ring true but an attempt made is better than none.
Q: Why decorating a home is important? How can candle lighting be transformative?
A space will always be a mirror of its occupant. Filling it with true expressions is enjoyable. Candle light is ancient and essential, it's not illumination in the modern clinical sense, but a version of light that encourages thought and reflection.
