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My art practice is built upon technique and the mimetic process. I’m interested in how to manipulate inanimate materials to create objects that are figurative representations. Technique for me is way of communing with materials as they transform into new forms.

 

Following historical methods, I sculpt from life in clay and stone. My aim is not only to transform materials into a human visage but also to allow the materials to dictate the the outcome of the artwork. I enjoy the juxtaposition of delicately modeled forms carved within the rough surface of a stone boulder or block.  By using unusual and delicate types of stone my portraits are meant to highlight humanity’s strength and frailty.

 

Sculpture and painting have, for me, a complex and reciprocal relationship.  My stone carvings have increasingly become ‘painterly’ and my paintings ‘sculptural’.  This merging of art forms has yielded interesting outcomes.  Colorful and intricately patterned stone creates a painterly aesthetic.  Conversely, paintings on stone have a physicality more characteristic of sculpture.  My paintings engage in historicism in both subject and materials used. Stone was, after all, the original ground for art.

© 2025  by Brendan Johnston. Powered and secured by Wix

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