Sarah Anne Johnson takes photographs, and once she’s gotten down what the camera sees, she uses a wild variety of mixed media to show the real reality. What cameras see, and what our eyes see, isn’t all that’s there. Johnson tries to make photographic images that show it all, drawing inspiration from more of nature than can be seen with the naked eye. Here’s more from JUXTAPOZ:
Johnson takes photographs in the forests of her native Manitoba. Working intuitively, the artist transforms her 60” x 40” pigment prints into active grounds for applying both fine art and unconventional materials, such as oil paint, gold or brass leaf, sparkly holographic stickers, and photo-spotting ink, across their surfaces. At times the photographs, enhanced by hand, are flecked by a radiant spray of painted dots and dashes. At others, small biomorphic shapes stenciled in acrylic paint seem to ooze from the image or flit magically in the air. On CDMC, thickly-applied, shiny patches of oil paint trace negative spaces between tree branches and simulate stained glass windows in houses of worship. Johnson’s added forms represent with paint and brush what the eye and camera cannot apprehend; not only communication between plants, but, just as importantly, her personal experience of the landscape. “I do this to create a more honest image,” says Johnson. “To show not just what I saw, but how I feel about what I saw.”
Every Tuesday is Art Tuesday here at Adafruit! Today we celebrate artists and makers from around the world who are designing innovative and creative works using technology, science, electronics and more. You can start your own career as an artist today with Adafruit’s conductive paints, art-related electronics kits, LEDs, wearables, 3D printers and more! Make your most imaginative designs come to life with our helpful tutorials from the Adafruit Learning System. And don’t forget to check in every Art Tuesday for more artistic inspiration here on the Adafruit Blog!