Human, Plant and Animal Figures: Art by Jonathan Hertzel
Featured artist Jonathan Hertzel is equal parts painter and sculptor, and he has a great ability to flip between these two mediums while keeping a very cohesive style. His three and two-dimensional forms reference human, plant and animal figures – sometimes all at once.
I enjoy the earthy tones and larger brush marks that Jonathan has been playing with in his most recent oil paintings. In our last feature we talked about the way that the artist’s sculptures imitate the bizarre landscapes of his paintings, using the same long, abstracted marks which are then translated into strands of sculptural material. These works continue that tradition, using marks that look subconsciously driven, forming uncertain images that I can look at for a long time, discovering new avenues of viewing.
Jonathan's Santa Fe Garden series on his website
Jonathan’s sculptural forms seem like his paintings have been brought to life, most of them appearing as figures that are on the verge of coming together into a solid, tangible form. The artist sculpts with a very animated intention, never using a straight line or plain block of clay. His frequent use of bronze tones gives the works a monumental appearance, like ancient statues seen through a dream-like haze.
