: : Victoria Johnson : :

Oregon based Victoria Johnson is a nationally recognized American Abstract Artist , and the recipient of the 2019 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Grant. Since, the late 70’s, Johnson has been making paintings considered formal and lyrical. Free-flowing, organic forms drift in and out of her canvases’ planes, creating enticing visual rhythm and movement.The placement of shapes lend the idea of landscapes to these abstracts, yet their enigmatic colors and forms keep the work abstract and modern. Her paintings aim to Post-Modernism with an indulgent chromatic palette.

Artist Statement – 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 will 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 am excited to see where this is taking me as this body of work continues to evolve.

Find selected paintings in collections including, Hilton Embassy Suites Pioneer Square Safeco Field, Seattle, Boston Consulting Group, Seattle, Cap Star Hotel Company, Vancouver, British Columbia – JW Marriott Resort and Spa, Palm Desert, JW Marriott French Quarter, New Orleans – Nokia, Redmond, WA, the Venetian Macao Resort Suites and Casino, a Winn Property, Macau, China.