Locust Jones: Smoke and Mirrors
For over 20 years, Locust's practice has woven layers of stories and images that replicate the frenetic pace at which society consumes everyday news and current affairs, in a variety of mediums.
I can't avoid the smoke and mirrors in the relentless 24/7 news cycles, the obscured truth, the embellished, misleading and irrelevant information. These ink drawings are my response. Over the course of eighteen months in Kyoto, Tokyo, and Katoomba, immersed in the world’s unfolding events, this is a visual diary. Each stroke grapples with the tension between appearance and reality, the narratives filtered through my personal lens.
- Locust Jones, 2025
Born in 1963, Christchurch, New Zealand, Locust Jones currently lives and works in the Blue Mountains, Australia.In 2010 Locust completed a Masters of Visual Arts at Sydney College of the Arts (Sydney University) where earlier in 1993 he completed an undergraduate degree in Print Media.
Since graduating Locust has held over 25 solo exhibitions within Australia and internationally, including: Burn Freeze, David Krut Projects, New York (2014); Descent into the Mass Media Maelstrom, Galerie Patrick Ebensperger, Berlin (2014); 24HR News Feed, Christchurch Art Gallery, Christchurch, New Zealand (2013) and Some Mistakes were Perhaps Made, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, NSW (2012)
Locust has participated in numerous museum exhibitions including: Art Gallery of South Australia, Heidi Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney. His work is held in major public collections including: Art Gallery of New South Wales; Art Gallery of South Australia; Artbank; Bathurst Regional Art Gallery; National Gallery of Victoria; Australian War Memorial; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, New Zealand; James Wallace Trust, Auckland, New Zealand; National Gallery of Australia; Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery; Kunstwerk Museum; Collection of Peter W. and Alison Klein, Stuttgart, Germany and the Shepparton Art Museum.
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Locust JonesOctober 2023, 2023ink, coloured pencil on paper127.5 x 776 cm (paper size)AU$ 32,000.00 -
Locust JonesThe medium is the message, 2023ink on paper5 panels: 143.5 x 380 cm (overall install size)AU$ 18,000.00
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Locust JonesSmoke and mirrors, 2022ink on paper180 x 152.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 11,500.00
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Locust JonesThe source, 2023coloured pencil and ink on paper57 x 76.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 4,600.00
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Locust JonesConversation frenzy, 2023coloured pencil and ink on paper57 x 76 cm (paper size)AU$ 4,600.00
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Locust JonesKyoto diary, 2024ink on paper61.5 x 94.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 5,400.00
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Locust JonesKeihoku diary, 2024ink on paper66 x 97 cm (paper size)AU$ 5,600.00
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Locust JonesA knock on the roof, 2023coloured pencil and conte on paper57 x 76.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 4,600.00
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Locust JonesKeihoku II, 2024ink on paper64.5 x 97.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 5,600.00
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Locust JonesStill to come..., 2024pencil and ink on paper61 x 94.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 5,400.00
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Locust JonesOpening pandoras box, 2024pencil and ink on paper96.5 x 66.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 5,600.00
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Locust JonesChanneling the Muromachi period, 2024ink on paper66.5 x 96.5 cm (paper size)AU$ 5,600.00
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Locust JonesThe take!, 2024pencil and ink on paper66.5 x 96 cm (paper size)AU$ 5,600.00
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Locust JonesOne hundred days, 2023underglaze and cobalt oxide on stoneware29 x 29 x 9 cmAU$ 2,800.00
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Locust JonesEmergency alert, 2023underglaze and cobalt oxide on stoneware29 x 29 x 9 cmAU$ 2,800.00
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Locust JonesGlobal boiling, 2023underglaze with gold lustre on stoneware35 x 34 x 7 cmAU$ 2,800.00
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Locust Jones3.8 billion years ago..., 2023underglaze and cobalt oxide, on stoneware37 x 37 x 11 cmSold
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Locust JonesThe cover up, 2023underglaze, gold lustre on stoneware25 x 25 x 8 cmAU$ 2,400.00
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Locust JonesShowers today with a high of 21c, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board39 x 50 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesRoot causes, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board63 x 41 cm (board size)
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Locust JonesThe negotiators, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board35 x 53 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesUnited nations, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board35 x 81 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesGiddy up, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board36 x 58 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesWake up dickhead, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board51 x 40 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesFree associating, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board63 x 45 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesSpiral of outrage, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board43 x 56 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesTaking stock, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board34 x 52 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesLive updates, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board53 x 36 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesHELLO, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board38 x 55 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesWho loses, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board32 x 76 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesThe vibe is shifting, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board56 x 32 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
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Locust JonesTrophic cascades, 2024/2025mixed media on mount board39 x 57 cm (board size)AU$ 1,400.00
