Jon Shaw

Bio

Jon Shaw was born and raised in St. Catharines, ON, received his BFA from Mount Allison University in Sackville, NB in 2008 and his postgraduate certificate in New Media Design from Sheridan College in 2009.

After graduation, Jon moved to Vancouver and spent eight years documenting the ever-evolving alleyways of the Downtown Eastside. A wealth of crumbly urban texture, these environments informed the illustrative urban landscape works of ink and acrylic on wood that became the focus of his artistic output.

In 2018 Jon returned to Niagara where he is producing new work that documents the urban metamorphosis in-and-around Niagara, Hamilton, Toronto and Montreal.

His work is a combination of detailed ink lines and various transparent acrylic layers made by brush, droplets and puddles. This layering process slowly builds into a harmonious network where spontaneous mark-making meets detailed structure. These techniques are fuelled by the symbiotic narrative between inhabitant and location in the spaces that he references.

 

Jon has exhibited locally at Niagara Artists Centre in St. Catharines, The Artist Project in Toronto and Kimoto Gallery in Vancouver. His work has received multiple grants from the Ontario Arts Council and is held in various private collections in Canada including Next Level Games, CAA, Staedtler and the City of St. Catharines.