Born in 1990, on the North Island of New Zealand, Brad Donovan grew up as a keen illustrator and exhibited a natural talent for the arts.

Growing up rurally, Donovan spent hours filling countless pages of sketchbooks, painting found scrap wood, and sculpting figures using his father’s old workshop tools. Donovan began his art career earlier than most, selling his sketches to his classmates in the schoolyard. His fondness for 90s cartoons and interest in the works of old masters would later inform his work, but it would take years of experimentation for him to find his artistic voice.

Today his work uniquely blends Baroque, and Renaissance influences mixed with Kawaii cuteness, elements of Surrealism and touches of modern Super-Flat colour. The works are layered with pieces of his past, which can be traced back to his early sketchbooks. The characters in Donovan's work are often loosely based on known people or created from his imagination. A prominent feature that has always remained in Donovan’s work are the comical and stylised round eyed 90’s cartoon characters he used to trace for practice, up against his bedroom window.

Donovan's evocative works leave the observer to determine the narrative. The work subtly plays with your emotions. When viewing one painting, you might find an energetic composition, brightly coloured with joyful characters. In the next, the included elements might suggest a sense of tension, mystery and unease.

Through the exciting development of Donovan's work in recent years, his work has made its way into numerous private collections and exhibited in galleries across the world.