I am thrilled to be a part of the Add Space Tulsa project, and to see an image from From Inside This Earth up on a public billboard in Tulsa, OK.
Thinking about petroleum oil, which is largely condensed energy gathered from the sun millions of years ago, I chose the Highway Gothic font to serve as a basic reminder: sunshine is in everything we do.
Excited to be part of an upcoming show, Analogues, at UCR Arts.
I had an amazing two month artist-in-residence experience via Agapolis + Building 180. Agapolis is a mind-blowingly-beautiful intentional community on 22-acres in Portola Valley, CA, and the residency proved a reprieve from my usual urban life. The two most amazing aspects of living at Agapolis was the friendly/smart/interesting community, and how peaceful I felt being surrounded by the splendorous beauty. It has been a while since I got to wake up in nature day after day, and this in itself was an amazing gift. I spent much of my time designing and then experimenting with creating a larger hut for the journey-meditation project Expanding Space. I learned a lot, had some amazing experiences, and have gained a new perspective on this Bay Area after viewing it from a whole new direction over the past few months.
A great conversation with Sam Mickey last week to discuss my solo show From Inside This Earth at Sarah Shepard Gallery. Sam has a PhD in Integral Ecology and Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness - and made for an ideal conversation companion.
Things discussed: how the compartmentalization of our surroundings affects the way we relate with the earth, how integral photography and oil have each become to our contemporary lifestyle, and the importance of considering oil as a companion in our daily lives.
I am delighted to say that my solo exhibition is up at Sarah Shepard Gallery. The show came together beautifully and will be up through the month of May. Each unique C-print is made from a sample of used motor oil; they are titled by the type of vehicle the oil was used in. Press Release Exhibition at Sarah Shepard Gallery
Installation view of From Inside This Earth At Sarah Shepard Gallery, May, 2019
So happy to have my work included in the latest issue of Katalog, adjoining a great essay by Marc Lenot about experimental photography. This is a hard-copy only journal, so if you’d like to have your own (beautiful) issue, you should click here.
I spent the month of November as an Artist-In-Residence at the Vermont Studio Center, making prints with crude motor oil, hiking in the snow, and being very happy to not be in a car. Learning a new skill, utilizing their meditation hut - beginners mind was all around. It was a cold and peaceful month marked by kind people and beautiful landscapes.
Imagination is Everything (working title) was an amazing, beautiful success. Consisting of two parts, participants listened to a guided meditation in which they were invited to imagine a place beyond our usual confines of time and space. After this, they posed to have their photo taken in this new, imagined space. Supported by the Oakland Museum of California, Imagination is Everything was a part of Channeling at the Lake Merritt Bart Plaza in Oakland, CA on Sept 29th, 2018
CHANNELING: A pop-up exhibition and festival of participatory projects that celebrate the space around us. Taking place at the Lake Merritt BART Plaza in conjunction with Around the Block, a presentation of the Oakland Museum of California. September 29th, 11am - 5pm
Excited to expand upon Channel Arts principle theme of art-making acting as an equalizer and a bringer of awareness of the space around us, Channel Arts is proud to present Channeling, a pop-up exhibition and festival of participatory projects allowing people from all backgrounds and ages to create and to celebrate the everyday places that we as a community share. With Channeling, we will fill Lake Merritt BART Plaza and our corner of OMCA’s Around the Block with fun, whimsy, and life. This event is free, and perfect for people of all ages and all backgrounds.
Delighted to be hosting art workshops as Channel Arts at the Peralta Park in Oakland. They came along for our Cyanotype workshop to document the adventure and created this great video from our event. www.channel-arts.com
With a grant from the Oakland Museum of California, my friend Emma Spertus and I are excited to be hosting free community-based art workshops at Peralta Park in Oakland as Channel Arts. These workshops focus on enjoying our public parks with a belief of art-making acting as an equalizer and a bringer of awareness of the space around us. Events are Friday afternoons from 4-6pm, and are hosted in Peralta Park, just a block away from the Oakland Museum, and right next to one of the many homeless encampments in our city.
Workshop Schedule:
June 22: Botanical Drawing + Plein Air, led by Paulette Humanbeing and Anne Seeman
June 29: Crochet Jam, led by Ramekon
July 20: Teacups and Clay, led by Emma Spertus
July 27: Cyanotypes and shadow, led by Johnna Arnold
August 17: Channel Flotilla Adventure, led by Steven Garen
I'll be speaking at my studio building Real Time and Space this Wednesday the 30th at 7pm. I will be talking about my time at Banff Center for the Arts, and also about life in general. I hope to see you there.
I had an amazing time as an artist in residence at Banff Center for the Arts. Kind people, beautiful mountains, and unlimited time with a traditional color processor.... it was a dream come true.
I am happy to say I have a new studio. Back in my favorite city, working within a great community of artists at Real Time and Space. The studio also has a wood shop and residency program. Let me know if you'd like to stop by.
Excited to be a part of the live auction at Southern Exposure this weekend.
New work, new era.
Experiments with Technology #01: iPhone and Match Flame
I've always wanted to be part of a cohort. And so being a part of SFAI's inaugural residency cohort is pretty ideal. It's also nice to have a studio in such a great location. Let me know if you'd like to visit.
"It is becoming more and more rare to see artists who are making traditional darkroom prints, and beautiful ones at that. Johnna Arnold's chromogenic prints are rich and sublime and beautifully executed... Transformed. That's what these items are. Truly transformed. I keep peeking into the print viewing area to see what giant surprise may be unfurled from the processor and put up on the wall next...the possibilities are limitless and luckily, so is Johnna Arnold's imagination."
-Ann Jastrab, Dec. 2016
Household Specimen #15: Used HEPA filter
Excited to be a part of Fertile Ground in Hayes Valley. Given an immense amount of flexibility, I installed two brand-new pieces: my first ever photo wheatpasted onto a shipping container, and a live-feed inside the shipping container of the cars commuting on the Bay Bridge.
Big Oil (Household Specimen #14: Used Motor Oil, Redux)
Inkjet Photograph, wheatpaste. 62” x 124”
Bay Bridge Continuum
CalTrans Live Traffic feed, 3’ Wooden Disk, Video Projector. 2016
Excited to have a new studio through the San Francisco Art Institute: Third Street Studios Residency Program. It's been a while since I've had clean wall space where I can hang my work. Things are still in progress... as they should be.
Visiting Colombia has been amazing. Here is a video I shot while entering the beautiful coffee pueblo, Jardín.
