Randi Johns, 2nd Place Winner

Winner of the Fall 2012 Competition

iT'S a COlOR ThING

An exploration of the role of color in art

ARCHITECTURAL PLAYGROUND

acrylic on canvas, 53 x 40in

$2,500

artist statement

Of all the influences in my work the most powerful is likely the use of color and abstraction.

I rarely paint the physical reality in front of me, but it may inspire a concept, an idea or a response which usually evolves around the notion of “What if....?” Only in art and the imagination are we free to explore the hypothetical.

At times the concept is rooted in reality, sometimes in history, observations of human behavior or simply a memory. Frequently perception can be more fascinating than reality and become the foundation of a new concept.

bio

Randi Johns graduated Cum Laude from University of Houston with a five year degree in architecture and practiced architecture both in United States and Denmark, where she grew up. For her, art and architecture are intrinsically interrelated: "Architecture is functional art."

Randi has painted periodically most of her adult life in one function or another. Sometimes just because she needed to immerse herself in form and color, at times as a professional working with a long term institutionalized patient group, sometimes providing art therapy in Yugoslavian refugee camps in Europe and sometimes toiling with architectural presentation drawings.

After moving to South Carolina she can finally indulge in painting, on her own terms, full time. She has exhibited in numerous places in each country where she has resided for an extended period, such as the U.S, Mexico and Denmark, Denmark where her interactive murals are placed on the walls of many institutions in the ancient town of Ribe.

EXHIBITIONS

The Artists Guild Gallery of Greenville, SC.

Columbus Museum, Georgia

Pickens County Museum, South Carolina

Lyn Galleria in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico

The professional counterpart to AIA (American Institute of Architects) in Mexico City

r a n d i j o h n s

pickens, south carolina [USA]

www.randijohns.com

randijohns@mac.com

ArtSceneToday Q&A

Q: Where do you see yourself in the art scene today?

A: At my age I’ve learned not to engage in issues over which I have no control and this may be one of them. So I will happily leave any kind of judgement of where I may (or may not) fit in to others.

Q: What is in your inspiration?

A: My inspiration is derived from a multitude of sources. I this particular case I wanted to explore the notion of creating unity of diverging elements. What if I could create one city from all my favorite buildings in the world. What if we’re no longer are Chinese, French, Russians or Danes, but only one people joined by humanity? Utopian? Yes, but what if we for a moment removed the barriers we surround ourselves with? As I said in the Artist Statement, inspiration and ideas come to mind as a response to the “What if.....”

Q: What are your challenges?

A: My challenges are simple: Become the best artist I can be, to stop the clock - eliminate deadlines and make art appreciation a mandatory requirement. Seriously, I think one of the great challenges of our time is the fact that we (artists) must face that we are a very expendable group and shouldn’t take ourselves that seriously. Our work doesn’t fulfill a primary need like food and shelter and can be seen as luxury objects in times when people are struggling to cover basic needs.

Q: How did you/do you choose your medium?

Q: Which artist has influenced you the most?

A: I have learned a lot from my fellow artists such as Mark Mehaffey, Mike Bernard, Frank Satogata, Brian Rutenberg, Ton Schulten and Claire Harrigan.

other works by the artist

GO TO

iT'S a COlOR ThING

Exhibition Page