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Judith Johnson

Multimedia

Studio

2183 Weller Way
Sacramento, CA 95818
Weekend One

About Judith Johnson

Artist's Statement

I have always been a contemplative action-figure. From my semi-feral childhood roaming rural Texas, to my adult life exploring urban environments, I draw inspiration from the intersection of nature and human civilization. My hard-working parents provided mind-opening books, music, and visits to museums. My favorites were the Aquarium in Dallas and Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago with its glorious dioramas and Egyptian collection. My fascination with archaeology was fed with nutritious films and exotic objects from my grandparents' regular trips to "the old country" in Lebanon, Syria, and surrounding countries of the Mediterranean. 

Always a vivid dreamer, I sleep with my eyes partly open. This results in commonplace objects in the room participating in the dream. Patterned sheets may appear as the sky. In waking life, my eyes act as a constantly refocusing viewfinder analyzing compositions and patterns as I walk and ride my bike. It is a distracting fountain of ideas.

My artwork explores daily encounters, memories, dreams, associations. Mundane objects find themselves in unexpected settings. Like archaeology, some relics are on the surface mixing with the modern day, but other treasures are deep in the strata. Recurrent themes are maps, masks, tools, reptiles/amphibians, and urban landscapes. The overlapping of natural and manmade patterns fascinates me.  

Since moving to California in 2016, I have noticed changes in my color palette which I attribute to the climate and latitude. In addition to painting, I build assemblages combining found objects with painted elements.

Artist's Bio

Judith Johnson is a life-long artist living in Sacramento, CA. She became serious about her artwork at her magnet high school in Dallas, TX and earned a BFA at University of North Texas. Despite many catastrophic events in her life, she has continued to create artwork that celebrates being Human: history, humor, appreciation of nature, dreams, relationships, daily life. Judith draws inspiration from her garden, cycling (her primary form of transportation), wandering, and the archives of her immigrant grandparents. Judith works in thematic series in multiple media including paintings, drawings, mono prints, and assemblages.  Judith supports her community's art organizations by being a docent at The Crocker Art Museum and as an active member of Verge Center for the Arts.

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