Today we’d like to introduce you to Anna Johnson.
Anna, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
As sickeningly cliché as this sounds, I’ve wanted to be an artist for as long as I can remember. My mother is an artist who specializes in watercolor, illustration and has an MFA in Graphic Design. She can do anything when it comes to art and that’s exactly who I wanted to grow to be. My initial interests were in meticulous and detailed pencil drawings. I was (pardon the pun) drawn to it from an early age. I would devote myself to hours of drawing and mastering an image and doodled endlessly at school when I couldn’t work on my projects. At 18, I committed to a Studio Art major at MSU with an emphasis in painting and drawing and I absolutely loved it. At the end of my second year I decided to make the move to continue my education at SAIC back in my home state, where I lightheartedly tossed a pottery class into my schedule.
I had dabbled a bit in hand building but hadn’t done much on the wheel. As fate would have it, it took merely seconds for me to fall head over heels in love with throwing. That’s where my current artistic narrative begins. From then on, I tirelessly studied glaze chemistry, experimented endlessly with glaze recipes and firing methods and leafed through volumes of ceramics books and studies. I committed my time and energy into developing a unique personal style, concentrating heavily on off-wheel manipulation paired with bold and intense glaze assignment. I’m an undeniable extrovert with a lot to say, and this tactile and primitive medium has become my most beloved outlet for self-expression. It can simultaneously be delicate, precious, messy, precise, loud and wild. The feeling of wholeness and contentment when I work with clay is what tells me that I am forging ahead on the path I was meant to take.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I am a Potter. In my studio work, I throw classic forms and manipulate them off the wheel or by use of unexpected glaze pairing and form development. Wheel thrown pottery is naturally circular and curved, so I have been drawn to the idea of creating edges and angles that don’t occur in the classical process. Wheel throwing allows me to understand the vessel so I can properly formulate the best route toward achieving the final form that I’m envisioning in the off-wheel stage. Off-wheel manipulation allows for re-formatting, cutting and re-aligning. With enough practice, anyone could throw a bowl or a functional form, so my intent has been to work past that and into a realm where even a simple form would take on a new personality. I strive to create work that exudes its own expressive personality through the infusion of my own raw identity in the process. The almost comical nature of my forms is coupled with devotion to masterful work, and my hope would be that both craft and personality are communicated to the viewer.
What do you think it takes to be successful as an artist?
To me, success is when I see someone respond to my work with the same emotion and feeling that I have toward the work. I believe the central purpose of making art is to express ideas and thought through physical form, using the medium and skill set you possess. When the idea and passion behind a work is successfully communicated and shared between the viewer and the artist is when that work has achieved its goal. I subscribe to the fact that passion and skill are the 2 things necessary to create successful work. The passion gives them the reason to create and the skill gives them the ability to make it real. If you have both things, you should be able to create a product that transfers your passion and emotion to the viewer.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
www.annajohnsonchicago.com. My work is not on display currently, but I update my website regularly as shows, sales and events arise.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.annajohnsonchicago.com
- Email: anna@annajohnsonchicago.com
- Instagram: @annajohnsonchicago
Image Credit:
Anna Johnson Chicago
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