Jon Eiseman

Artist Profile

Jon Eiseman’s sculptures extend beyond the physical, encompassing notions of time, spirituality and emotion. Cast in bronze his figurative sculptures have a whimsical and poetic quality in which the common man - often represented as a suited figure or solitary head - is fused with iconic symbols of the vessel, fish, bird, tower, tree, flag and ladder to suggest contemplation, humour and internal struggle. Drawn from the shadow world of dream and the inner landscape of the unconscious, his work creates an intriguing open-ended sense of narrative.

A recurring theme in my work is the metaphorical search for meaning and spirituality in the borderland between the rational world and the surreal lands of dreams and imagination. Within my current work I continue to explore the theme of a journey through strange and unfamiliar landscapes, inhabited by people travelling in a timeless world. Their voyage, through forests and oceans seems mysteriously purposeful yet enigmatic. Through the development of symbolic images I aim to create sculptures that have a dreamlike and poetic quality as if drawn from the inner landscape of the subconscious.
Artist Statement - Jon Eiseman

'We drift towards a hazy horizon in the work of Jon Eiseman, forever journeying and never arriving. As if siphoned directly from a dream, the Melbourne artist’s masterful bronze sculptures see anonymous pilgrims traversing forests and oceans by foot or on inadequate vessels. Their voyages are purposeful, and yet these travellers appear lost, lonely, displaced – a poetic metaphor for human life indeed.'
Excerpt from catalogue essay by Elli Walsh 2025

'At the edge of the desert ripples the ocean, which, for Eiseman, echoes our vast subconscious sea of thoughts and dreams. Standing solemnly in boats ill-equipped for a voyage, figures drift toward the unknown, absorbed in contemplations of spirituality, the state of the world and the future of mankind. In these poetic compositions, the trope of the bird alludes to myths and legends about spiritual guides, while the feather and the egg emblematically locate death and life as ever-present companions in our search for meaning. Precarious pilings of figures, birds and objects perched amidst gnarled leafless trees carves a space for ontological questions that cannot be answered. Eiseman considers how as humanity departs from nature, we lose part of our very being in the process.'
Excerpt from catalogue essay by Elli Walsh 2020

WATCH: Jon and the team at Mal Wood Foundry. Six months of hard work on a major commission has resulted in this stunning 3m x 4m unique bronze sculpture now reaching its permanent home within the gardens of a private collector.

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Artist CV

Jon Eiseman has been a practicing artist since 1985, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Honours [Fine Arts] in 1998 and a Master of Fine Arts in 2000, both from Monash University. He worked in the sculpture department at Monash University for twelve years and after leaving continued with his personal practice to the present day. During this period he has had many solo exhibitions and completed public and private commissions as well, including a major work in 2022. He has exhibited in the Lorne Sculpture Biennale, the McClelland Small Sculpture Fair, the McClelland Sculpture Survey Exhibition and has been a finalist in the Williamstown Festival Contemporary Art Prize, the Deakin University Small Sculpture Award and the Alice Art Prize.

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