Artist's Statement — Nick Johnson / Abstract Artist and Art Educator

Artist’s Statement

Nick Johnson’s paintings and studio process explore and present an evolving scenario of problems and solutions. New directions occur in leaps and bounds or small carefully calculated steps. He aims to orchestrate and amplify an expanse of shape shifting colour into some form of sense or nonsense. His work is fed by a constant curiosity and need to activate and transform everyday visual phenomena, including the humdrum stuff we see and experience all around us. The result is an off-kilter wacky kind of formalism. Weaving and shifting compositions of colour and shape into fields and flows of energy, his paintings possess and hold onto an inner pulse that confronts the viewer. “When creating paintings there is always a tension and certain level of anxiety.” He does not title his work as they are of a moment, time and place and devoid of any intentional narrative.

When in the studio, Nick is constantly trying to find the right materials to activate the painting process. He is always drawing, testing and experimenting in small sketchbooks with colour pencils and markers. In recent years he has used a range of paints and materials including Acrylics, Oils, Flashe Vinyl, Enamel, Household Paints, PVA, Upholstery Foam, Marble Dust, Air Dry Clay and Spray Paints, which are applied onto Canvas, Wood and Handmade Paper. There is a fascination and need to explore how the paints and materials present themselves on the various surfaces. The final results present an uneven haphazard geometric field, where angular shapes, blocks and discs of flat vibrant colour compete for position. The rest is left for the viewers to discover and explore themselves.