We were lucky to catch up with Femi J Johnson recently and have shared our conversation below.
Femi, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
Process…..art is a verb!
John, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I was born in Manhattan, New York, and raised in Easton, Pennsylvania. I couldn’t sing in a family of singers so quite young I grabbed a pencil and learned to draw portraits in graphite and charcoal which led to a professional career as a Master Draftsman & Designer for large and small companies such as Bell Laboratories and Lucent Technologies. After thousands of technical drawings over decades of work in multi discipline, then having to be as proficient on a computer instead of drawing board is when I redirected the creative energy back to the fine arts. Completing a two-year studio program in art at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, is where my engagement with contemporary and modernist art in commune with my customs in Yoruba spirituality inspired an emerging studio practice. In 2012 I then returned to the Lehigh Valley. Currently working out of Expressions Studio & Gallery in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Exhibiting extensively across the region and internationally, with works in corporate and private collections.
My cosmic connection to the earth
A conversation with the ancestors
The call and response to every day every day
A place to be…improvisation…freedom
My meaning
A visual dialog with existence
‘Abstract Storyscapes‘
My daily passion is painting! abstract storyscapes embody a uniquely raw and permissive form of contemporary abstraction. Floating harmonized color, shaped figural elements, and snippets of line drawing all find their position and coalesce as visual chapters in a worldview expression. Familiar places, formal or self-educated beliefs, and personal or media-influenced subjects abstractly saturate the mutable compositions, freeing the viewer to explore interchangeable scenarios. Translating chaos into temporary but believable order on canvas, like jazz the cohesive improvisations exalt the rich connectivity of life. Through our souls we are connected.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect is as an artist you get to completely 100% define yourself according to how you think feel believe and in manner of expression. And then redefine yourself as you grow and the inner muse chooses.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Oh there’s been pivots. My first biggest pivot was as a young man with responsibilities while working carpentry construction with little in portrait commissions. I looked at the blueprints and said I’ll do this. From there back to school and all the involvement in board drafting and design in multiple disciplines is how my art was expressed.
Contact Info:
- Website: Femijj.com
- Instagram: @Femijj
- Facebook: Facebook.com/femijj
- Other: [email protected]
Image Credits
Femi J Johnson