Final Year — Kathryn Johnson

The final year has started. Or, well, it started four weeks ago. It's only really now that I feel completely in the swing of things in the studio. I had an amazing summer; first, two months working in Italy where I loved being with everyone and everything about that culture again. Then after a couple of weeks back in Scotland, one of my biggest adventures yet; hiking the John Muir Trail in California. An incredible 230 mile hike starting from Yosemite Valley and continuing south until it reaches the summit of Mt Whitney, the highest point in continental US. John Muir was an naturalist, conservationist, writer, botanist and founding father of the national park movement in the US - a man who was born in Dunbar, Scotland in fact. It took us 17 days to reach the summit, and another day to get back to civilisation and eat a burger. The Sierra Nevadas is just a great place to do long-distance hikes. Being out in the wilderness for that long, with only one re-supply, was a big change, nothing like a day hike in Scotland. It left me craving the outdoors and started the base point of my research when I finally returned to the studio.

I started by looking at moving my work on from Italy and more towards natural landscapes. Depicting the sense of place whilst still keeping a abstract feel has been a interesting balance to find. And I'm not close to finding it yet. I need to keep pushing over the next few weeks to really try out any ideas

I've had and to see how different materials react together. The pace in the studios has been very varied, amongst my own days and everyone else's. As I scale up some of my smaller studies, the waiting time for these large pools of paint to dry becomes longer and other side projects appear to fill the time. It is not without its difficulties but I'm starting to really enjoy my final year in these studios and the family that comes with it.

The next two months are full of big milestones; exhibiting in my first international exhibition and finishing my first draft of my dissertation. More hikes are also planned because my heart seems to sing if it's in the mountains and hills, surrounded by good company or amongst some paint and brushes. Balance is key and you can only make work if you have experience to draw from. Or at least I only can.

'I only went out for a walk and finally decided to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.'

JOHN MUIR

August 31, 2022

'Forgive' shown at Aberdeen Art Fair

The rain held on

and as it soaked,

we sheltered.

Spoke of butterflies,

of meant-to-bes,

of loving those who can’t,

of how the battle was over

before it even arrived.

May 20, 2020

La Wayaka Tropic 8˚N Panama Residency

In the September of 2019, only 3 months after I graduated, I embarked upon a long journey to the east coast of Panama to partake in La Wayaka Current’s Tropic 8˚N residency. Totally beyond a conventional studio residency, it presents a rare opportunity to research and develop new artistic & creative practices in a remote natural environment between rainforest and sea. In collaboration with an autonomous, indigenous group, matriarchal culture and community at the gateway between South and Central America, this residency appealed to me for many reasons as I sat in my degree show space, looking for residencies to apply to.

January 6, 2020

FBA Futures 2020

This week I am in London to attend the opening of the Mall Galleries’ 'FBA Futures 2020’ exhibition. It is a privilege to start this year off with an opportunity to see my work displayed in such a great space and amongst a curated collection of impressive fine art graduates from around the UK. As I walked amongst the work yesterday, I arrived upon my own. ‘The Lonely One Per Cent’.

November 30, 2019

Glimpses

‘Glimpses’ was a small solo show I exhibited in November of 2019, at Foodstory Aberdeen. The paintings were made in response to a trip to the Outer Hebrides of Lewis and Harris. Below is the poem for the collection, to accompany the works and to tell the story. To see the paintings click here.

June 30, 2019

Degree Show

The Gray’s School of Art Degree Show closed last Saturday and with that, a momentous time in my life was over. After 6 years (I took two years out of my Bachelors for medical reasons), I have gone through the whole process of having my own degree show and come out the other side.

November 24, 2018

Como Zero Gravity

It’s already been a month since my exhibition at Hilton Lake Como. I was so excited to open ‘Como Zero Gravity’, an exhibition featuring both my work and the photographic work of Luca Bacci, showcasing the highlights of the wonderful city. To me, my time living in Como over the last two years has been life-changing, and it felt like a fitting way to honour what the city has given me.

October 6, 2018

Final Year