DENNIS JOHNSON
photo etchings
September 18 - October 22, 2010
Email: art@dennisjohnsondesign.com
Artist Statement
The inspiration for my work is the communities where I have lived. The Bay Area, St. Louis, and most recently, Montana, have influenced my work and vision. Each community has and continues to present unique opportunities to explore and to grow as an artist. It is the recurring themes of familiarity, cultural and historical context, and exploration of iconic representations of the contemporary urban landscape I find most fascinating and inspiring.
My work is about place; exploring landscapes, both urban and rural. Most of my work reflects the East Bay community I call home. The prints "Donut Time" and "Haven on Earth" are examples of images from East Bay communities. In each print, the building or trailer sign is isolated from its surroundings, evoking a sense of familiar, yet inviting the viewer to experience the building in a new and different way. Typography (signage) in these prints is significant to me as historical and cultural icons. Signs become iconic, not only informing us, but also becoming landmarks within neighborhoods. Given the continual change we find in our visual environment, these signs are usually "hold outs"—cultural and historical icons, which time has passed by. Type combined with a clock or boat, make a statement of a time when information seemed more naive, less sophisticated. Humor also plays are role in my work, specifically through signage. Examples of this are the looming (out of scale)"Trailer Haven" sign over an aging trailer park, or the visual pun of a clock with "Donut Time."
Travel has been another source of inspiration. In Montana, I found inspiration in the vast open spaces, the prairie landscape, and rolled hay bales in a harvested field. Works "Haystacks" and "Montana Landscape," present the exploration of rural landscape. In "Haystacks", the bales of hay viewed from different perspectives, are very "architectural". "Montana Landscape" pans the landscape to reflect on buildings no longer used. These landscapes reveal ongoing themes found in my artwork. The themes of isolation, of changing landscape, and of people’s footprint on the landscape are what I want to reveal.
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I am interested in exploring the visual elements of space, light, and texture. For example, the print "Room with a View" explores an isolated building to invoke a sense of space. The perspective of the building juxtaposed with the disappearing slope of the street further enhances the feeling of spaciousness and isolation. The use of light in the prints highlights the shape and form, and helps defines space. Light and white space are used to define mood or feeling as well as shape. In the prints "Ronnie’s Drive In" and "Haven on Earth" the quality of light is used establish mood, and time of day. Both are viewed at twilight, building anticipation and expectation.
Another consistent element is my work is texture as found in the urban landscape. In the print "Lee’s Grill" the softness of sky and faded background contrasts with the hardness of the building, roughness of the asphalt and concrete sidewalk. The handmade paper used in the printmaking gives each work a velvety feel that adds to the overall texture. The intaglio process heightens the light and texture I explore and examine in my work.
Artistically, and conceptually, I examine objects and buildings in their environs, and enjoy considering them removed from their current contexts. Thinking of buildings as unique, as they might have been, and as sculptural and architectural objects appeals to me. I consider the building, visually and historically, both in and out of the context of its surroundings, and reflect on its purposes. In that way I try to view buildings and objects, as separate from time and space, as well as being reflections of a particular moment in time and space. My current artworks merge these differing perspectives using chine colle, airbrushing, and intaglio to blend the past, present, and imagined. |
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