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Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, Earthworks - Mojave Desert

Anna Elise Johnson

Earthworks - Mojave Desert

October 14 - November 11. 2023

Anna Elise Johnson, El Mirage Road I, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

El Mirage Road I, 2023

dye, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and plaster on canvas

38h x 52w in

AEJ081

Anna Elise Johnson, El Mirage Road II, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

El Mirage Road II, 2023

dye, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and plaster on canvas

64h x 48w in

AEJ082

Anna Elise Johnson, Barstow Highway II, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

Barstow Highway II, 2023

dye, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and plaster on canvas

72h x 60w in

AEJ087

Anna Elise Johnson, Valley View Road I, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

Valley View Road I, 2023

dye, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and plaster on canvas

46h x 60w in

AEJ083

Anna Elise Johnson, Mojave Freeway I, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

Mojave Freeway I, 2023

dye, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and plaster on canvas

52h x 38w in

AEJ084

Anna Elise Johnson, Mojave Freeway II, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

Mojave Freeway II, 2023

dye, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and plaster on canvas

48h x 34w in

AEJ085

Anna Elise Johnson, Barstow Highway I, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

Barstow Highway I, 2023

dye, acrylic, oil pastel, watercolor, and plaster on canvas

50h x 60w in

AEJ086

Anna Elise Johnson, Pearblossom Highway at Magic Hour III, 2023

Anna Elise Johnson

Pearblossom Highway at Magic Hour III, 2023

concrete, rock, and acrylic paint

12h x 9w x 3.50d in

AEJ079

Anna Elise Johnson, Desert View Road at Magic Hour III, 2022

Anna Elise Johnson

Desert View Road at Magic Hour III, 2022

concrete, rock, acrylic paint

12h x 9w x 3.50d in

AEJ077

Press Release

Cris Worley Fine Arts is pleased to announce Earthworks – Mojave Desert, a solo exhibition of new works by gallery artist Anna Elise Johnson. This is Johnson’s fourth solo exhibition at the gallery.

Each piece in Earthworks - Mojave Desert begins with a purposeful journey from the urbanity of Los Angeles to the open vistas of the desert. As she traverses the landscape, Johnson intuitively searches for an isolated site where the earth tells a compelling geological story of the elements of time that formed it. In a deeply reverent and meditative process, soaked canvas is cut and laid on the ground where Johnson uses cold water dyes to flow and pool over it. Johnson then throws powdered dyes into the air allowing the wind to mark the surface. Dried by the sun, the piece returns to her studio where she paints and draws with a variety of mediums including oil pastel, watercolor, and acrylic to visually apply her memory of the place onto the canvas. The final complex piece is a joining of the land that sculpted it and Johnson’s experience both past and present of the site.

This body of work continues Johnson's practice of painting and sculpting in collaboration with the natural landscape. This method began during the pandemic when lockdown forced Johnson to vacate her Los Angeles studio and drive cross-country to her parents' home. As evolution is a mainstay in Johnson’s artistic approach, naturally, she modified her medium to best capture her experience in taking to and engaging with the land. Johnson’s earthworks grapple with the psychological impact of living in the Anthropocene, the current geological era in which human activity is considered the dominant influence that affects the landscape, climate, and environment. Johnson believes understanding that humanity is a geological force unsettles long-held ideas of what it means to be human and disrupts the boundaries between person and nature.

Anna Elise Johnson lives and works in Los Angeles, CA. She received an MFA from the University of Chicago (2012) and a BFA from Washington University, St. Louis (2005). Johnson was a Core Fellow at the Glassell School of Art in Houston, TX from 2012-2014, and participated in the Tottenham Hale International Studio Residency Program in London in 2011. She has exhibited nationally and internationally in group and solo exhibitions, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Berlin, India, Slovenia, and Italy.

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