Jonathan Latiano

May 9, 2026 - August 16, 2026​

Opening Reception: 6 PM - 9 PM, Saturday, May 9th, 2026

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Hawthorn Contemporary is pleased to announce the opening of Jonathan Latiano’s solo exhibition Scaling a Pyramid.  

"Size is objective, but scale is subjective.

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Scaling a Pyramid is a multidisciplinary project combining microphotography and installation sculpture to examine how we perceive volume, detail, and proportion. At its core is a simple but ambitious premise: construct a small sandcastle and photograph every grain of sand within it.

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At the center of the installation, a sandcastle modeled after the Great Pyramid of Giza sits on a pedestal beneath a vitrine of matching form. Surrounding it are thousands of images, each isolating a single grain of sand from the structure. The relationship is exact: every grain contained within the pyramid appears on the wall, and every image on the wall corresponds to a grain within the pyramid. Together, they shift attention between the monumental and the microscopic, asking viewers to reconsider how scale is experienced.

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The sand itself is coral sand; a regolith composed of fragments of both stone and marine life shaped over time through bioerosion. The grains are remnants of coral, shells, and other organisms broken down by the ocean’s constant movement. These particles function as a kind of archive, holding traces of life, death, and transformation across vast spans of time.

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The pyramid serves as a parallel. Though vastly different in size, both the grains of sand and the Great Pyramid are artifacts shaped by accumulated forces. Each exists as a record of time, material, and process. Through this comparison, the work challenges fixed notions of scale and monumentality, revealing how even the smallest forms can carry immense weight and presence.

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First presented at the Boston Sculptors Gallery and later at Chimaera Gallery in Philadelphia, Scaling a Pyramid is now in its third iteration at Hawthorn Contemporary. This exhibition also includes Latiano’s first book, Scaling a Pyramid, which documents the images and process behind the work, alongside a new series of large-scale charcoal drawings that further examine the granular detail of individual grains."

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Jonathan Latiano received his BA in Studio Art from Moravian College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 2006 and his MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 2012. He has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions in cities including New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, DC, and London, and his work has been featured in local, national, and international publications.

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Latiano’s practice explores how our relatively short lifespans shape the way we perceive time, and how the present informs our understanding of the past and projections of the future. His installations examine labor, impermanence, and fragility, often drawing on scientific fields such as geology, physics, and evolutionary biology as conceptual frameworks.

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Latiano maintains his studio practice in Somerville, Massachusetts, is a member of the Boston Sculptors Gallery, and serves as Director of the Studio Art Program at Merrimack College.

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