I appropriate objects and images from shopping centers and waste to create surreal and satirical renditions of consumer and advertising landscapes. Using photography and digital 3D scanning methods, I create digital 3D models appropriated from advertisements, store displays, discarded surplus, and single use packaging to display the ever-shortening life cycle of various consumer products, with most of my attention being turned to plastics. 

Drawing upon my lifelong involvement in- and exposure to- consumption, my practice reflects on how object attachment through nostalgia and environmental destruction are enmeshed in commodity capitalism. Objects that create memories and shape our experiences are the very same objects that will produce unknown environmental consequences far beyond our lifetimes. By researching the material properties of plastics as well as systems for the disposal of surplus products, my work examines the longevity of everyday objects, the production and promotion of even more objects, and the contradiction that is “sustainable capitalism.” 

Jonathan received his Bachelor of Fine Arts at Buffalo State College and his Masters of Fine Arts at the University at Buffalo. Jonathan currently the Photography Facilities Manager at Flower City Arts Center in Rochester New York.