As such, pieces look familiar but beautiful in an impossibly perfect way. This particularly works for citrus (Johnson’s “Blood Oranges” looks delicious, for example) and with richer colors found in pieces like “Tomatoes in a Bowl.” Newer pieces in the works include gourds and white pumpkins all of which Johnson first photographs and edits before bringing over into the painted world. With a dash of realism and a bit of idealism, Johnson had found her thing. Fascinated by the shapes and colors of grown food-as well as the concept of our relationship to it-pieces began to emerge in acrylic: glass gem corn and habanero peppers carrots and watermelons and oranges, among others.
Johnson also took up gardening during that period, which would ultimately feed into her practice as well. “I just wanted to take that leap of faith, so I painted the whole time.” “I decided I wanted to be a full-time painter,” she recalls. By March 2020, the pandemic found her temporarily furloughed, however, which led to an important decision. (Alex De Vore)Ĭut to a five-year stint working at Railyard gallery Blue Rain (home of Erin Currier, no less!), where Johnson found inspiration again. “but I got to a point where I couldn’t figure out what to paint, and that was also true of my photos.” “I took all the painting classes, too,” she tells SFR. While at IAIA, Johnson dove deep into photography (which she still practices, but more on that later), printmaking and 3D arts. “But I ultimately decided art was more important.” At the time, Johnson had been studying French at the University of Kansas but, by 2011, she was deeply ensconced in the studio art program at the Institute of American Indian Art. Johnson hails from Lawrence, Kansas, but has called Santa Fe home since her folks moved here in 2009.
Still, from her cozy live/work space in a renovated Eldorado garage where the vistas loom large and the landscape seems to go on forever, we could have been saddled with endless boring pieces featuring mesas and clouds and all the other exhausting tropes you’ll find in most galleries around here-and Johnson doesn’t even have representation. Yes, we’re mainly talking about still life pieces of fruit and vegetables, but in terms of representation and color study and realism, the $350 highest price point on her website seems more than fair.
0 kommentar(er)
