Japanese Garden, 2021

Known for his unique works that simultaneously reference art history as well as his own experiences and personal outlook, Jonas Wood is a painter who draws inspiration from collages, drawings and photography in creating his own images. Wood’s work is often described as sincere due to its recurrent motifs of still-life and domestic interiors, as exemplified in such works as Hammer and Speaker - the artist himself has stated that he is “interested in exploring the spaces that I’ve inhabited and the psychological impact they've had on me and my memories of them.” Using a combination of bright colour, vivid pattern and flattened space, Wood creates works that are often categorised as abstract; he has also been associated with a number of other styles, including Modernism and Pop Art, and has cited Lucien Freud, David Hockney and Alex Katz as influences, remarking: “All three of them are superheroes.”