Bio:

Edward S. Johnston is a visual artist whose work bridges sculpture, photography and 3-D technologies by taking imagery from the environment and manipulating it digitally to be transformed as sculptural objects. Areas of inquiry including psychology, neuroscience, physics, and philosophy influence his work.

Johnston’s works have been exhibited throughout the United States and abroad, including the 2008 Krasl Biennial Sculpture Invitational in St. Joseph, Michigan; the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop in Washington, D.C.; the Cothenius Gallery in Berlin, Germany; the Big Ten Conference Gallery in Park Ridge, Illinois; and several galleries in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Johnston’s works have been exhibited on Internet venues including the PLAY Gallery and screened on television through PBS in Michigan and the Michigan channel. His works are included in the private collections of Maureen and Tim Sweeney, the Messina family, and the Fusco Residence. He is the recipient of the 2009 Young Artist’s Program Grant Award from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, partly funded by the National Endowment of the Arts.

Artist Statement:

We are constantly completing visual puzzles. James Elkins states, “If a building is half hidden by the branches of a tree, we literally see it in fragments: subtract the tree and you would have a floating collection of irregular building pieces. But the eye completes the puzzle and sees the building whole" (1). This phenomenon is called subjective contour completion. In photographing my surrounding environments, I tap this phenomenon in order to respond to the contemporary condition. Human experience in contemporary society can be constantly recorded and measured using technology. Every action can be analyzed according to various conventions and webs of surveillance. Where in this scrutinized space-time might we construct personal space-times? Where in this matrix of conventions might we express personal experience as paramount?

My response involves a complex, conscious engagement with technology, perception, and the environment. I collect imagery from my surrounding environments and manipulate it digitally to be transformed into both virtual, 3D forms and physical sculptures. The resultant forms happen both in the virtual space of computers and the physical space of sculptures. These simultaneously virtual and physical objects stand as metaphorical pathways through the chaos of places, thoughts and memories that are experienced each day. In addition, these forms respond to the desire for profound meaning in everyday moments.

1.) Elkins, James. The Object Stares Back. New York: Harcourt, Inc. 1996