Chris Johanson
Celebration of Life and Death, Where to and with What Wants? Doing This Or That, With Intention, Grand or Inconsequential, All the While, 2020

acrylic and housepaint on paper
51”H x 51”W

ARTWORK STATEMENT:

In response to the theme of this art project I have created a large drawing with the idea of the ark and the idea of faith as the central narrative. I am personally not a religion oriented person, but have taken in bits and pieces of spiritual information from here and there and that energy is swimming around in the sky, water, and social space of this piece. The political climate, environmental concerns of the last year, and the virus are in every dab of color and brush stroke in the piece. How could it not be? The viewer may or may not be able to locate this energy in the piece. Serene thoughts. This last year, although not without its gifts, has not been a good time in so many ways.

Artist Bio:

Chris Johanson engages with the meditative qualities of art-making and sincere direct communication through painting and sculpture. Johanson’s work plays between the techniques of figuration and abstraction, as he sees these two modes of working as interconnected expressions of strong beliefs in environmentalism, compassion, and peaceful coexistence.