Jhonpierre has been making for about 10 years, but it wasn’t always the style he’s recognized for today. He tried art school as he began taking his art seriously. He always felt out of place from peers who were far from plunging themselves into debt. A culture of superficial competition drove Jhonpierre to drop out of art school, but he kept creating.
Much of his early creations are unique, but the characters and symbols prominent in his work today were then scrawled on the back as a type of signature. He often spent more time burning these symbols into the wood frame than he did working on the canvas.
Jhonpierre’s work has evolved into a series of interconnected symbol patterns, like sacred geometry. Jhonpierre’s brother introduced him to the popularity of RETNA, which his connective symbols seemed to resemble. He realized what used to be a personal reference could actually work better on the front of the canvas.
Jhonpierre is deliberate about his work and wishes nothing more than for his art to last long after he’s gone. Friends who get caught up in the energy of his work and poke fun, but he doesn’t find humor in it.
The simplest explanation is that Jhonpierre isn’t actually the one creating, he’s channeling a stream of energy. Call it the universe, or a higher power, but Jhonpierre makes it clear that his creations aren’t completely up to him. They are rather decided by this outer source of inspiration.
Jhonpierre confesses a fear that any painting could possibly be his last time standing at the canvas. He remarks that a bus could swipe him on the way home, and countless other possibilities. But he would rather die before abandoning his passion for making.
What frightens Jhonpierre most is beyond death. The scariest possibility is that he never made a mark, that he won’t be able to live on through his work. He’d want someone to come across his work in the future, and he’d be satisfied if the only message was that someone created while they had the time.
