Director of Foundations presents at conference, exhibits work
Mary Johnson, director of Foundations in the Alfred University School of Art and Design, presented a project at the 2022 SECAC Conference (formerly the Southeastern College Art Conference) and had work in an exhibition at the Greater Denton Arts Council.
Johnson presented her project, "Men on Mars," at the 2022 SECAC Conference on the panel "Mythogenesis: Making and Telling Stories in the Arts," chaired by Claudia Wilburn and Katie Alt.
The ongoing studio project "Men on Mars" was installed as an installation at BOX13 in Houston in April 2022, and will be shown in a series of works on paper at CICA Museum in South Korea and Artlink in Fort Wayne, IN, next summer.
"Men on Mars" investigates how myth plays a central role in our how we experience our own spaces and selves within them and colors our perception of the "other." It is set in an imaginary Martian landscape reminiscent of the mythologized American West.
Johnson's work, "Valentines," is included in group a exhibition, "Women, Art, and Technology: Ornament and Adornment," at the Meadows Gallery at the Greater Denton Arts Council, curated by Alfred University graduate and University of North Texas Assistant Professor Eliza Au, MFA '09. The show opened Sept.23 and will on view through Nov. 18.
The goal of the exhibition "Women, Art and Technology: Ornament and Adornment" is to challenge the notion that the realm of technology is male dominated; women in current times are using these tools to create art that speaks to their own experiences, views, and values. Seven women artists who create ornament through digital processes will participate in this show and much of their work is created through digital fabrication techniques, including 3D printing, laser engraving, digital printing, or designing work in CAD (computer-aided design).
Johnson and Liz Trosper create abstract images by cropping, collaging and modifying their images, which are then printed or projected. These images are collaged to the point of ambiguity and unrecognition, forcing the viewer make judgments purely on texture and sensation, without knowledge of the actual object.