Tim Jones, known for his work in sculpture and printmaking, was born in Clwyd, North Wales, Great Britain in 1962. He studied painting and printmaking at the Newcastle-upon-Tyne Polytechnic, England in 1979-1983, after which time he visited Australia in 1984, furthering his artistic training by undertaking a post-graduate diploma in sculpture at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne (1984-85).
After completing his studies, Jones spent two years in Kingston, New York, working as a studio assistant for the English-born artist John Walker, who had been the dean of the VCA during Jones’ student years. Following his travels in the United States, Jones worked in London in 1988, where he began his Metropolitan phantom series of drawings, prints and sculptures, which reflected his interest in Oceanic art. The figure of the phantom was based on a New Guinean sculpture he had seen at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
In 1989 Jones returned to Australia to commence a twelve-month artist residency at the University of Melbourne, during which time he constructed his dreamlike, gothic sculpture Covert 7 city in response to the increasing density of Melbourne’s cityscape. His work drew upon multiple references, including his prior experience of Manhattan’s bustling architectural scene.
As a printmaker, Jones’ early wood engravings were dominated by images of trees, which referenced the forests of the Welsh countryside that he had explored as a child. A later characteristic of his work was the inclusion of iconography stemming from the field of poetry, in particular the work of the eighteenth century poet William Blake. Hanging Rock in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges has also represented a key source of inspiration for Jones’ work after his first visit to the area triggered a series of wood engravings that were exhibited at Tolarno Galleries in 1995.
Since finishing his artistic residency at the University of Melbourne in 1990, Jones has held numerous solo exhibitions, including ‘I’ve been in love forever – A Survey Exhibition 1990 – 2005,’ at Stonington Stables Museum of Art, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, which was his twentieth solo exhibition. Among the many group exhibitions in which he has taken part are ‘Proof: Contemporary Australian Printmaking’ (2006-07) held at The Ian Potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne and ‘Australian Print Workshop: Impressions from Australia’ (2007-08) at the Australian Embassy in Washington D.C., USA.
Throughout his career, Jones has completed numerous prominent commissions for public projects in Melbourne and Sydney. Examples include four large vitreous enamel works for the Southern Stand of the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in 1991, the Sensory Fountain for Sydney’s Royal Botanical Gardens in 1994, and the Community Totem at Hanging Rock Reserve, commissioned by the Macedon Shire Council (2006-2007).
In addition to his own artistic practice, Jones has worked extensively as a lecturer in Sculpture, Printmaking and Curatorial Studies at various Victorian tertiary institutions including RMIT (1991-92), the University of Melbourne (1993, 1996), Monash University, Caulfield, (1995-97), and Latrobe University, Bendigo (1997 and after 2003), as well as the Centre for Adult Education (from 1997).
Jones’ artistic work has been recognized by several awards, such as the 2000 Joyce Thorpe Nicholson Award for the best designed book of 1999 (collaboration with Guy Mirabella), a Commendation from the Royal Australian Institute of Architects in 1996 (collaboration with City Projects Design Branch) and the 1994 Mitchelton Winery Print Award from the Australian Print Workshop. Also within his list of achievements is a Masters by Research (1997-2000) from Monash University, Melbourne.
The art of Tim Jones is represented in several prominent public collections, including the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide, Heide Museum of Modern Art, Victoria, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, Baillieu Library Print Collection and the Victorian College of the Arts, University of Melbourne, as well as private collections in Australia, Germany, Japan, UK and the USA.
- Writers:
-
- Date written:
- 2012
- Last updated:
- 2012
