Jonathan Zawada (b. 1981, Perth, Australia) is a multi-disciplinary artist exploring the complex interplay between technology and human experience through painting, sculpture, drawing, video, installation, and object design. On the surface, his work presents an inviting aesthetic of bold color and modern pop sensibilities, however, beneath this veneer lies a deeper investigation into interconnected networks, systems, and architectures that shape our cultural and social landscapes.

Zawada’s practice is rooted in his early background in web design and coding, synthesising the virtual and physical realms. His hyperreal pieces seamlessly blend the artificial and natural, oscillating between intricate detail and dynamic expression. Whether rendering objects through precise pencil drawings, constructing multimedia environments, or crafting sculptural forms, Zawada translates the intangible or unseen into tangible artefacts, developing his own language for the properties of networks and systems.

He has exhibited internationally at; 21st century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa, Japan; VIVID Festival, Sydney, Australia; Natural History Museum Los Angeles County, CA, USA; Prism Gallery, CA USA; Kurt Beers, London, UK; Sarah Cottier Gallery, Sydney Australia, Calm & Punk, Tokyo, Japan. He has presented at conferences around the world including Semi Permanent Sydney, and Us By Night, Antwerp and recently sat on the Create NSW government Artist Advisory Panel in developing a 10 year vision for the government’s role in the arts.

With a philosophy of world-building that extends beyond traditional gallery spaces, Zawada utilises the commercialised arts as another medium. His extensive collaborations range from product design to music releases, reaching audiences from fine art institutions to major cultural festivals like Coachella. Notably, his world-building projects with artist Flume have garnered multiple ARIA awards and seen his artistic narratives play out over months and years across a wide variety of mediums and modes.

Zawada’s oeuvre emanates a simultaneous attraction to and sophisticated critique of technology’s effects on subjective human experience. His aesthetic exists as a constructed lens into the dense, complex networks shaping our contemporary existence, serving as both an invitation and a mirror into our increasingly intertwined physical and virtual realities.

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