My environments of wilderness and isolated structures become those locations where the weird may take place. In Wellspring the unfamiliar forest surrounds a pod whose opening is dark and acts as a threshold between the known exterior and the unknown interior. The opening is a lacuna, a missing section of information, and this blank circle stands in contrast to the colors and patterns of the foliage surrounding it. This is not a dead space when we project our ideas of what could be there, nudged along by clues in the periphery but in the end completing the weave ourselves. By creating a setting focused on a core of the alien the viewer is encouraged to explore and wonder. This state of tension between searching for answers and being unable to find them is what excites me as it creates anticipation in the face of the unknown.
Born and raised in Pahoa, Hawaii, Liv Monique Johnson earned her BA at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and her MFA in Studio Art at Texas Tech University with an emphasis in printmaking and sculpture. Her work has been shown across the country as well as internationally and is in private and public collections. As a botanical illustrator she has published the first scientific illustrations of newly discovered species of Cyrtandra in the peer-reviewed journal Phytokeys. She now lives in Houston where she continues to develop her art at Burning Bones Press and is an instructor at the Glassell School of Art.
Livjohnsonart.com
@leafmonique