Ian Johnson

Lives and works in UK / Mexico

Artist statement

Working with both organic and industrial materials—ranging from leaves, clay, seeds, and natural pigments to steel, cement, and industrial spray paints—I create works across painting, sculpture, and installation that are concerned with the human imprint on the landscape and it's impact on the environment. I consider ‘landscape’ as a multifaceted concept—extending beyond geography to encompass metaphorical, psychological, spiritual, and bodily dimensions. It is a space of tension and interconnectedness, shaped by collective histories and individual experience. Through my work, I consider how we inhabit, alter, and relate to these layered environments, drawing attention to the entanglement of the natural and the constructed by revealing how material and memory, body and landscape, are intimately connected. I was born in the UK in 1969 and studied at Jacob Kramer College of Art in Leeds, followed by Goldsmiths College, London, where I earned a BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 1991. During this time, I received an Erasmus Travel Scholarship to study at L’École des Beaux-Arts in Montpellier and was awarded a Young Artist’s Work Scholarship at the Museo de Arte Contemporanea, Castello di Rivoli, Italy. In 2006, I was selected for the Florence Trust International Artist Studio Residency in London. I have exhibited in public and private galleries across the UK, Germany, and Mexico, and my work is held in numerous private collections. I now live and work in Mexico, where my work is...

Artwork