Jen Johnson artist statement:
I am an interdisciplinary artist, and my practices include photography, writing, and meditation. My art is a contemplative inquiry into psychological space, narrative, place, memory, loss, longing, and meaning. It explores the intersection of creativity and spirituality and is an investigation into individual, social and environmental suffering and healing.
Through writing and photography I explore memories held by people, land and place. I am interested in photography and writing as vehicles for telling stories and the resulting healing that occurs for self, others and the Earth. My intention is, in part, to facilitate the telling of stories that are not typically told, to speak the unspeakable and bring into the light those aspects of the Self that often remain hidden. When we share our stories, it has the power to decrease a sense of shame and isolation, facilitate connection with others and inspire others to share their stories that perhaps they feel others cannot bear to hear. Sharing our stories thus creates personal healing and holds the potential for also creating social and environmental change.
My photography practice is deeply influenced by the theory of Carl Jung and Minor White and by Buddhist teachings and practice. My work is influenced by the concepts of synchronicity, the collective unconscious, meditation, and a felt sense of Universal energy at play in the world. I approach both writing and photography from a meditative state, waiting and listening for the whispers of synchronicity in a similar way that I spend time being with light in my landscape photographs—waiting for meaning, messages, intuitions, and moments of grace, following images that arouse my curiosity, opening myself to words, and waiting for that moment when spirit moves me to release the shutter. I work with subtle qualities of light to create emotional tone in a photograph. I believe that emotional expression in art and how we feel about what we are creating is just as important, if not more so, than the technical aspects of a photograph.
My writing is deeply influenced by the work of Carole Maso, Virginia Woolf, and Terry Tempest Williams. I write because it sustains me. I am deeply moved by the ways in which longing and desire inspire language and art. Both my daily practice and creative writing originate from a place of attempting to express authentic voice, and I strive to inspire others to become intimate with their own authentic voices as writers and artists.
I feel passionate about making meaning of experience through creating narratives with writing and photography. I am continually in awe of the healing power that is inherent in both the creation and the sharing of our personal stories. I like to imagine a world in which each of us takes responsibility for telling our own stories in the interest of healing self, other and the Earth. Perhaps we could just heal this planet, one story at a time.
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Jen Johnson artist statement