“I see this print as a culmination of everything I’ve learned in printmaking so far and how it facilitates and complements my practice.”
—Jonas WoodWithin his compositions of interior scenes, Jonas Wood explores human imprints on domestic environments by illustrating the debris left by individuals in their surroundings. Capturing the clutter and lived-in qualities of the everyday, these artworks emanate familiarity, evoking a sense of those who exist within these spaces although they are not present. Storytelling subtly weaves its way through the composition, as seemingly ordinary objects are intentionally arranged – fruit and vegetables haphazardly strewn on the kitchen counter, an array of potted plants snug on the windowsill, and an open cupboard door revealing the contents within. Despite the absence of human figures, vivid colours infuse the scene with life, evoking gentle nostalgia for home and the simplicity of everyday moments.
Jonas Wood with printmakers Emmett Walsh, of Aliso Editions, and Kevin Giffen, of Wranch Studios, reviewing proofs of Kitchen Interior, at Wood’s Los Angeles studio, March 2021. Image/Artwork: © Wood Kusaka Studios Kitchen Interior took its starting point from a collage Wood made combining a 1970s-era magazine clipping of a kitchen interior with the candyfloss-coloured evening sky from a photograph taken on a family vacation in Hawaii. Wood’s artistic process largely involves cutting and collaging found images, sketching from these and, at times, deconstructing these drawings to forge new collages. “I’m a clipper,” he says, “ I have a lot of photos on my computer. I have books and magazines I’ve collected. I get into modes where I’m researching my sources.” Over decades, he has cultivated a stockpile of imagery – including postcards from friends, Instagram screenshots, and interior design magazine clippings – to draw inspiration from. This approach results in his distinctive collage-like compositions, marked by flat, overlapping forms, vibrant colours, and slightly-skewed spatial dimension.
Comprised of 112 individual colour screens, the creation of Kitchen Interior was an extensive project that took over 20 months to complete. Much alike Wood’s underpainting process, the screens of colour were methodically built-up, beginning with the large, simplified shapes of the background. The screens then progressed to the smaller forms, ending with the intricate details, such as the grain of the wooden cabinets, the spikes of the pineapple, and the venation of the house plants’ hanging leaves. The resulting print boasts a sumptuous surface, rich in colour and meticulously precise in form, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in the intricate beauty of everyday life.
“In this print I was really trying to push my mark making to a different level… I wanted to try to make a print that could hold up to a painting, to make a print as much like a painting as I could.”
—Jonas WoodLiterature
Gagosian Gallery, Jonas Wood: Prints 2, New York, 2023, pp. 138-139
156
Kitchen Interior
2022
Screenprint in colours, on Rising Museum Board, the full sheet.
S. 122.6 x 80.4 cm (48 1/4 x 31 5/8 in.)
Signed, dated and numbered 2/60 in white pencil (there were also 14 artist's proofs), co-published by WKS Editions and Aliso Editions, Los Angeles, framed.
Estimate
£10,000 - 15,000 ‡
Sold for £10,795
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Evening & Day Editions
London Auction 6 - 7 June 2024
