AMERICAN

Jonni Cheatwood is a self-taught contemporary artist whose innovative practice interweaves mixed media, abstraction, and personal narrative to explore the multifaceted themes of identity, anonymity, and memory. He constructs his canvases as quilt-like assemblages of sewn fabrics, including denim, burlap, linen, and found textiles, challenging traditional notions of the painted su face by introducing rich textures and histories inherent in the materials. Cheatwood, at times, infuses his work with organic hues by dyeing these substrates with natural plants from his environment, deepening the connection between his art and its surroundings. Upon this tactile foundation, he employs bold gestural marks in oil and acrylic paints, echoing the spontaneity of Abstract Expressionism while drawing early influence from street art and artists such as Basquiat, Francis Bacon, Baldessari, and Karel Appel.