
Artist: Jonathan Lawes
Title: Apple
Medium: 7 Color Screen Print
Size: (A3) 29.7 x 42 cm
Edition: 10
Price: £80
Jonathan Lawes is a London based artist and designer celebrated for bold geometric abstractions created through the alchemy of silkscreen print. Born in Salisbury, he completed a foundation course at Arts University Bournemouth before earning a BA in Printed Textiles and Surface Pattern Design from Leeds Arts University in 2009. Drawn to the immediacy of ink on paper, he spent a formative decade in Berlin, absorbing Bauhaus palettes and urban rhythms that now pulse through his work.
Back in south-east London, Lawes treats printing as drawing. He cuts loose stencils, builds layers of translucent pigment and pulls each sheet by hand, allowing colour to dictate direction. Flat planes of coral, indigo and ochre interlock into rhythmic patterns that suggest mid-century tapestries viewed through a contemporary lens. Seasonal walks along the Thames feed his ever-shifting palette, while vintage textiles and Matisse cut-outs sit in a mental library of shapes he rearranges on the fly.
Recent experiments extend the language beyond paper: he prints directly onto raw canvas, reclaimed timber and even vintage book covers, letting texture interrupt the geometric perfection and introducing a quiet human irregularity. Collaborations with COS, The Conran Shop and Joseph Joseph translate his visual grammar into scarves, ceramics and kitchen textiles, proving abstraction can live comfortably within daily ritual.
Whether releasing a limited edition of twenty or covering a gallery wall, Lawes remains committed to the tactile surprise of ink meeting surface, reminding viewers that colour, shape and instinct are enough to build a world.