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Artist Statement -




While I have always avoided describing my work as abstract, I've come to see the nature of my paintings as driven by the spirit of a figure-ground relationship. Of growing interest to me is a sense of the primal manner in which we relate to the earth’s horizon and how we exist in the context of landscape. Rather than pursuing what is illusory, my approach is experimental. My interest lies in the tension between wanting to avoid abstraction while calling upon elements of landscape that address the primal subject.

There are moments when simultaneous overlays of color or possibly a correction, for example, figures a form and a theme. When these departures occur, different patterns that otherwise had been out of focus, or out of reach, or at least out of my attention satisfy me and I’ll notice its importance to the experience of the painting. It is these moments that for me draw the eye more deeply into the poetry of the real than is possible in either illusion or abstraction.

On a formal level, growing out of my acquaintance with the language of the non-objective, I like to flirt with the dissonance of color in layers or juxtaposition while calling attention to the surface with the supple, sensual qualities of the medium of oil paint. Taking full advantage of the possibilities of the medium, the occurrence of unexpected passages in translucence and even in the character of pulls and drips of paint provide an encounter with the tangible. While I've been exploring color and shape through the poetry of the non-objective, I've recognized this element as being something that stirs a dialogue in the sensibilities of some of my contemporaries, as in some of the later works of Gerhardt Richter. In this manner, I see a shift in how my work addresses form, and I’m excited to see where this is taking me as this body of work continues to evolve.

Elizabeth Pence writes in Artweek, August 2006:

“Johnson’s material images are cultivated through the movement of gesture
and the use of mineral and organic pigments. Her disciplined method prioritizes
the event over the finished object, however capable her use of color or balanced
accumulation of form. The broad gesture used to create each individual shape is
accomplished by wiping away around the form. The puzzle-piece shapes and
arching strokes give way under the material phenomenon of transparent application
of oil paint, visually extending the “space” behind the surface, dropping back and
reconfiguring the relationship between the forms within the painting. This neutralizes
the integrity of the interlocking shapes and complicates the space of the image
in a sophisticated and interesting way."

Victoria Johnson
2014

Artist Exhibitions



Victoria Johnson
Born 1955 Portland, Oregon


EDUCATION

1995 Santa Fe Institute of Fine Arts, Master Class with Gregory Amenoff
1978 B.S. Fine Art, School of Architecture and Allied Arts,
University Oregon
1976 Portland State University


SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2015 Color Narratives, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2011 Balancing Acts, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
A_R_E_A, SRG Architects Gallery, Seattle, Washington
A_R_E_A, G/O Architects, Tacoma, Washington
2009 Three FORM, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Marking the Void, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna, British Columbia
2008 Turn On, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle Washington
2007 Spin-Drift, with Deborah Bell, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna, British Columbia
2006 Border Crossing, Sopa Fine Arts, Kelowna, British Columbia
2005 New Work, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2003 Subtle Substance, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2001 Resolving Beauty, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2000 Potent Metaphors, Lorinda Knight Gallery, Spokane, Washington
Millennium: Three Introductions, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Torrefazione Italia, Solo Exhibition, Seattle, Washington
1981 Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Two-Person Exhibition with Dick Lodwig,
Portland, Oregon


SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2014 12 Annual Juried Exhibition, Tacoma Community College, Tacoma, WA
Color, Composition & Content, curated by June Sekiguchi,
Alijoya Thorton Place, courtesy of Lisa Harris Gallery
2013 Victoria Johnson, Paintings, Jerry Wingren, Sculpture, Lisa
Double Dozen, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle Washington
Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Rainer Club, courtesy of Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
Look Here - Thirteen Artists in Tacoma, curated by Victoria Johnson
Plein Air Invitational, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2009 25th Anniversary Show, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2008 Water Falling, Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2007 Common Threads, Fresh Paint Art Advisors, Culver City, California
2006 Border Crossings,” Sopa Fine Art, Kelowna, British Columbia
Chromatic Conversion, Soho Myriad, Group Show, Atlanta, Georgia
Summer Group Show,” Lisa Harris Gallery, Seattle, Washington
2005 Art in Embassies Program, Embassy of the United States of American
Vientiane, Laos PDR, Laos
2004 20th Anniversary Show,” Lisa Harris Gallery, Group Show, Seattle,
Frank Russell Corporate Collection Traveling Exhibition, Washington State
In Focus: Seattle Galleries at Rental Sales Gallery – Lisa Harris Gallery Artists
Material Witness,” Kirkland Art Center Group Show, Kirkland, Washington
2001 Juried Exhibition, West Coast Paper Show, Seattle, Washington
1997 Group Show, 619 Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1996 New Abstraction,” Seattle Art Museum Rental Sales Gallery, Seattle,
Washington
1995 Masters Art Program Exhibition of Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico
1993 Women’s Funding Alliance Auction, Seattle, Washington
1991 Visual Sound, Friesen Gallery, Seattle, Washington
1990 Associate’s Exhibition,” American Institute of Architects, Seattle, WA
1986 12 x 12, Seattle Design Association, Seattle, Washington
1981 An Exhibition of New Work, Elizabeth Leach Gallery, Portland, Oregon
1980, 1979 ARTQUAKE Fair Exhibition, Portland, Oregon
1979 Celebration of Women’s Art,” Northwest Artists’ Workshop, selected by
the Women’s Art Project, Washington, D.C., Portland, Oregon
1978 Undergraduate Show, LaVerne Krause Gallery , University of Oregon,

REVIEWS AND DISTINCTIONS

2015 Artist/Painter Residency, Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, Vermont
2012 Studio Visit Magazine, curated by Jonathan Green, Winter 2012 Edition
2009 Seattle Times, August 2009, Lisa Harris Gallery celebrates 25 years
reviewed by Gayle Clemans
2005 Art Week, Victoria Johnson and Irene Mahler at Lisa Harris Gallery,
October 2005 issue, reviewed by Elizabeth Pence
2004 Juror, Mayor’s Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, Public Commission:
Electric Gallery at Union Street Substation, awarded by SeattleLight


SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Allergen, Irvine, California
Ben and Aileen Krohn Collection, Seattle, Washington
BINW, Seattle, Washington
Boston Consulting Group, Seattle, Washington
Capstar Hotels - Feature Lobby, Vancouver, British Columbia
Deloitte & Touche, Seattle, WashingtonFrank Russell Company, Seattle, Washington
Frank Russell Investments, Seattle, Washington
Group Health, Compton, California
Intercorp, Seattle, Washington JW Marriot Resort and Spa, Palm Desert, Palm Desert, California
JW Marriott Hotel French Quarter, Lobby, New Orleans, Louisiana
Madison Renaissance Hotel, Seattle, Washington
Morgan Stanley/Dean Witter, New York, New York
Nokia, Redmond, Washington
Nordstrom, Charlotte, North Carolina Nokia, Redmond, Washington
Northwest Hospital, Seattle, Washington
Peoples Bank, Seattle, Washington
Premera Blue Cross, Seattle, Washington
Saks Fifth Avenue, New York, New York
Swedish Medical Center, Seattle, Washington
Time Warner, New York, New York
Torrefazione Italia, Seattle, Washington
Trump Marina, Atlantic City, New Jersey
U.S. Embassy, Art in Embassies Program Collection, Yerevan, Armenia
U.S. Embassy Art in Embassies Program Exhibition and Collection, Laos, Vientiane (catalog)
Venetian Macao Hotel and Casino, sixteen paintings selected for property suites, Macau, China
Watertown Hotel - Feature Lobby and Breakfast Room, Seattle, Washington ...

Artist Publications



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Artist Collections



Numerous private, corporate, museum, gallery and government collections detailed information coming soon.

Artist Favorites



Personal Favorites



Personal info and favorite links and sites coming soon.