David Johnson

I don’t need a photograph to tell me what the world looks like. And we all see the world differently. Two peoples’ versions of any occurrence are always different.  

Drawing is a way of attempting to see and understand the world.  It is a graphic representation, a translation of vision into pencil lines. Sometimes we have to draw quickly, with haste. Perhaps it is getting dark or it is going to rain, the model has things to do and doesn’t want to sit all day.  There is such a thing as urgency.

An etching or a relief print elaborates and enriches the drawing and often translates it into something with added dynamics.   

What does it feel like to walk down the street, to be in the world?

He lives in Iowa City.

Sarojini Jha Johnson

My family came to the United States from India many years ago. My work reflects my preoccupation with my knowledge of India as I have experienced it through my journeys there and through stories told by my parents. Certain objects and images are persistent in my mind and are emblematic or evocative of many things, from mundane to sublime.

Some of these objects are plants such as datura and images of favorite deities such as Ganesha and Lakshmi. Uprooted people often experience a longing for things that remind them of their former home. This sort of nostalgia or yearning for familiar things, especially food, has been a part of my family’s experience for as long as I can remember.

My father grew exotic vegetables with names I do not even know in English. This amuses and amazes me. I believe that the dialog about culture and nationality is vital and that the visual arts are an important forum for communication of the subtleties and variations of individual viewpoints. Recently I have been making artist’s books that delve into the issues of climate change and the effects of human folly on the natural world. I also sometimes celebrate the beauty and mystery of the universe in these works.

Biography

Sarojini Jha Johnson has taught printmaking and foundations at Ball State University since 1985. She grew up in Ohio and earned undergraduate degrees in French and drawing from the University of Cincinnati. She received an MFA in printmaking from Miami University where she began working with animal and plant forms in her prints.  Her work places natural forms in a fictional context. An essential theme expressed is the human desire to make time stand still in order to experience a particular moment in time. Her main medium is color intaglio printmaking, a medium that allows for great creativity and invention in terms of surface and color. Recently, she has been exploring memories and impressions of India, her country of origin. Animal images such as fish and birds still emerge in this work. She also makes books that highlight the devastating effects of humankind’s tampering with nature by introducing flora and fauna that take over.