DALLAS: Ann 'Sole Sister' Johnson

Nesting

November 15, 2014 – January 3, 2015

SOUTH DALLAS CULTURAL CENTER

3400 South Fitzhugh

Dallas, TX

From pvamu.edu:

PVAMU Visiting Assistant Professor of Art, Ann Johnson, will have her art work featured in two exciting exhibitions this fall.  Her popular Nesting series will be showcased as a solo art exhibition at the South Dallas Cultural Center, November 15, 2014 through January 3, 2015. Her Nesting series, as well as other new works, will also be featured in a group invitational exhibition titled Notes Upriver as a part of Prospect 3: Baton Rouge, LA, a citywide exhibition. The Baton Rouge exhibit will run from November 13, 2014 through January 25, 2015.

Johnson’s Nesting installation series began as a public art project for Russ Pittman Park in 2013, and was originally titled Migrations & Movement. For this series of work, Johnson creates circular nests that house delicate images of individuals printed on a feather. The series, now retitled Nesting, has since been exhibited at: The Art League Houston as a part of Print Houston 2013; Blue Orange Gallery as part of Print Houston 2014, and has been featured in exhibitions in Long View, and San Antonio, TX.

Nesting explores an individual’s private space and thoughts. “I’ve been teaching over 16 years, and as I’ve watched the students transition from analog to digital. I’ve noticed that more and more students are content with individual solitude and isolation as long as they’re plugged in(to an iPod/iPad.) Nesting explores an individual’s private space and thoughts,” explains Johnson.   “Are we as individuals nesting in our own worlds, letting the days pass us by, or are we caged and trapped in this game called life. Rather it be in song, meditation, or prayer, nesting examines one’s personal moments of conceptual seclusion.”

Source Link

Exhibit Link

COVER: Ann 'Sole Sister' Johnson / Exhibit / Winter 2014

The Longview Museum of Fine Art presents Preservation by Ann 'Sole Sister' Johnson.

Show overview: 

Ann “Sole Sister” Johnson debuts to Longview her mixed media and experimental printmaking techniques. The center of Johnson’s art revolves around her genealogy, particularly that of her Native American great-grandmother. “I print on feathers to acknowledge my Native American ancestry and the ‘Black Indian.’ By printing various family members on feathers, I am unifying African, Native and American culture. The ghostly images emerging from the feathers represent elements of a hidden past.”

 

Johnson also has printed members of her family on handmade vegetable paper made of zucchini, squash, cucumbers, and yams. The prints are presented on white plates and bowls, and are encased in resin for preservation.  The works introduce Johnson’s family in a preserved and very mysterious way.  Other pieces explore the migration of family members from the South to the Northern states of Connecticut and Pittsburgh.

 

Also on view are a series of interactive works entitled Nesting. Comprised of a collection of bird nests suspended from the ceiling, Nesting explores one’s sense of space at a precise moment in time.

Preservation

Mixed media artwork by Ann “Sole Sister” Johnson

January 11 – March 9, 2014

THE LONGVIEW MUSEUM OF FINE ART

215 East Tyler Street

Long View, TX

Download Exhibits Winter 2014 Newsletter here.

HOUSTON: Bās

Featuring work by Rabéa Ballin, Ann Johnson, Delita Martin and Lovie Olivia

June 28 – August 2, 2013

ART LEAGUE HOUSTON

1953 Montrose Boulevard

Houston, TX

Art League Houston (ALH) is excited to present Bās, the fourth collaborative  exhibition  by artists Rabéa Ballin, Ann Johnson, Delita Martin and Lovie Olivia, which examines and transforms personal experiences, family  histories,  and  cultural  identities  into  a  provoking  visual  play through the art of print­making. 

Getting  back to the BASics of things, the artists re­visit the desire to work from the heart; the place of impulse, desire, chance and truth. Raw ideas and organic pursuits are on their creative agenda as they fuse contemporary  processes  with  traditional  techniques  using  various  objects,  sculptures  and  forms  in  an attempt to push the boundaries of this sometimes forgotten art form of printmaking. They cut, pour, sculpt, suspend, transfer, screen and etch their way into a broader conversation.

Rabéa Ballin: History Slept On: “The Original Dime Piece” explores idealized images of feminine beauty. "Circassian" women were regularly exhibited and became a mainstay of dime museums and P.T. Barnum's circus side shows. Known as the "purest" type of white person, Circassian women were said to be the most beautiful on earth. Sporting undeniably distinctive hairstyles, they became known as “moss haired girls”.

Ann Johnson: "Nesting" I've been teaching over 16 years, and as I've watched the students transition from analog to digital I've noticed that more and more students are content with individual solitude and isolation as long as they're plugged in(to an iPod/iPad) Nesting explores an individual's private space and thoughts. Are we as individuals nesting in our own worlds, letting the days pass us by, or are we caged and trapped in this game called life. Rather it be in song, meditation, or prayer, nesting examines one's personal moments of conceptual seclusion.

Delita Martin: “Memory” explores the relationship between memory and objects. Objects are imprinted by moments  of  life  and  they  retain  stories,  history,  and  experiences  that  work  together  to  create  each individuals reality. I am fascinated by the connections and shifting moments between that which is physical and the intangible.   On the periphery of every tangible memory are the intangible details that we fill in as facts.   When in reality those periphery details are our sub conscience attempting to give clarity through the use of familiar objects.   As we grow and our context changes, the objects meanings change but their use in formulating thoughts and memories remain constant.

Lovie Olivia: “Between” explores the spaces of transition from one state to another. In between: class, caste, time, consciousness, form and space are where I am inspired to create from.  Pursuing my personal take on “totems and portals”, I attempt to experiment with the notion of transitioning from different conditions and modes of being.   By creating free forms and moving away from some printmaking restrictions, I allow myself the freedom to simply “go with it”.

Exhibit Link