Jonathan Meira
b. 1992, Worksop
2011–2014 BA Fine Art, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton
Artist’s Statement
Within my practice I am interested in deconstructing and blurring boundariesincluding authenticity, our perception of value, and hierarchies. Recent bodies of work have invited the viewer to ask questions and re-evaluate how they value the experiences the ‘“everyday’” provides.
The refusal to be discipline-specific, provides a freedom for ideas to become embedded in multiple practices ranging from sculpture and installation through to text art. More often than not, the rhizomatic links between ideas and works have led to “hybrid” installations which straddle and dissolve the boundaries between sculpture, installation and object based art. This allows me to approach one discipline through another, abolishing those traditional aesthetic and artistic conventions which I feel limit my autonomy as an artist.
My works aim to contribute to the democratisation of art, through the creation of works which are designed to be temporary, allowing the viewer to only obtain the experience of the work. The works often have the potential for multiple readings and are activated from their dormant state by their engagement with the viewer. Providing people with this opportunity allows them to take part in the creation of the work, blurring the boundary of authorship.
Process and the ephemeral nature of chosen materials are key in numerous works, including WelcomeTo The Promised Land and Castle. The dematerialisation and transformation of form in such works is essential. The work’s very essence and its relationship to space infinitely shifts through unmaking. and making.
Castle
In works such as Castle I am interested in reconstructing an everyday object such as a sand castle The healthy tension between my intentions and the nature of the material generate an ambiguity, transforming the expected into the unexpected. Adopting this process is fuelled by my passion for materiality and desire to understand the totality of this multi-textured world I live in. The amalgamation of architecture within this work ranges from ancient, mystical eastern architecture through to the classical castle towers found in children’s books. These different architectural forms fuse through the hyper organic curves and veins which straddle and intensify the castle’s body. This smooth blending of architecture from throughout history destroys the linearity of time, placing us in a time zone where neither past nor present can be distinguished.
I hope to offer a new perspective on how we can read the symbolic language of our cities, probing into questions surrounding humanities’ future and the cyclic nature of civilization Here, our desired utopias are not materialized and so we destroy and rebuild. This continual remaking positions Castle’s form in a continuous state of transformation, just like the sand from which it is made. This acts to generate new cultural narratives about how cities could be structured.
Recent Exhibitions
Solo:
2013 Appetite for Consumption, Eagle Works Gallery, Wolverhampton
2012 CHANGE, The Fixxion Warehouse Project, Wolverhampton
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