Iskra shows Archives - Iskra Fine Art

Iskra Johnson and Alfred Harris in Intersect at SAM Gallery

August 1, 2023 by Iskra Leave a Comment

I am excited to show a new abstract body of work created from my calligraphic brush painting. It is an honor to show with Alfred Harris, a longtime favorite Northwest artist whose work always surprises. I look forward to seeing you August 5th!

Waterfall 1/1, Mixed Media Archival Pigment Print on German Etching, 24 x 35

INTERSECT

AUG 5 2023

SEATTLE ART MUSEUM

SAM GALLERY

2 PM – 4 PM

Join us as we celebrate the opening of Intersect at SAM Gallery.

Artists Alfred Harris and Iskra Johnson combine techniques and materials which are altered, layered and built up to create finished works which harmoniously intersect in this collection.

Meet the artists at the opening reception of Intersect on Saturday, August 5.

Seattle Art Museum Gallery Hours: 10-5 Wednesday – Sunday. Located on the street level of the Seattle Art Museum, on 1st Avenue between Union and University Streets. 206.654.3120

Recent Monoprints and an Upcoming Show

June 25, 2021 by Iskra Leave a Comment

Color Theory Painting Studies Iskra — Color Studies, Studio Work

As we emerge from the pandemic into summer I have good news to report: Seattle Art Museum and SAM Gallery are close to fully reopening! I will be part of a group show in late summer with two other printmakers, Tallmadge Doyle and Jueun Shin. In conjunction with SAM’s Monet exhibit the theme will be water, which I am guessing you may welcome after what could be some very hot months ahead. As post-pandemic plans finalize it is best before visiting to call the gallery and shop (206.654.3120) to learn the latest updates on procedures. At this point access is available Wednesday-Sunday 10-5 without a museum ticket, although the museum website does not yet reflect this.

Water is also the theme of a piece selected for the exhibit Art in the Time of Corona, which features my piece “Ledger” on Artsy. The goal of this innovative project is to record and exhibit defining artwork created during civil uncertainty. The hope is to unite viewers and help them find the sanctity, comfort and inspiration needed to heal a world in turmoil.

Over the past six months I have been sorting ideas and directions and keeping my studio practice focused on process. Printmaking has been a throughline of all my work for decades, and as part of my year of media exploration I decided to take one more look at “old fashioned” printing with a press, using water-based Akua inks. With help from an associate in Seattle Print Arts I set up my Baby Richeson press, which has been sitting neglected in a dark corner for nearly 20 years. It was mesmerizing to combine the folded paper collage I started doing earlier this year with the press, and I often found myself printing until 1 or 2 in the morning, experimenting with drypoint, monoprint and various forms of chine collé. Very few of these pieces will ever see a public wall, but the interplay between developing ideas in drawing and watercolor and then moving to a the press will be useful for years to come.

Wave Patterns Monoprint by Iskra — Wave Patterns: a monoprint created with Golden Paints open acrylic. Open acrylic is completely amazing. As I struggled with the Akua inks and their honey-based chemistry, which seems to not-dry, like – ever?, I turned to paint instead. I love the fluidity of this modern medium, and its sensitive mark-making possibilities.

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Iskra Fine Art #100DayProject and the Garden Show at Museo

March 30, 2020 by Iskra Leave a Comment

(See the Motion version on Instagram.)

It has been only 20 days since I last wrote here, and yet in that time the world is completely changed. Millions of people across the globe are now confined to their homes as modern life as we have known it shuts down in the face of the corona virus. The profound sense of isolation in the studio, combined with the media’s constant drumbeat of dystopia pushed me for several weeks close to despair. Forced to look at the books on my shelves (and consider reading them) I came across Milan Kundera’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being. In it, the draft of a calligraphic treatment of a quote: A single metaphor can give birth to love.

With galleries closed and shows delayed or cancelled, and with a sense of life or death urgency and helplessness heavy in the air, motivation for working in the studio has been in question. But the quote, and its tissue paper flourishes, lingered in my mind. I think it was its echo that led me to realize that this is the time, after years of thinking about it, to take on #The100DayProject. Under house arrest in my pajamas, there is no escape. And certainly nothing to lose.

The One Hundred Day Project was first introduced in 2007 by designer Michael Bierut as a challenge to his graduate students at Yale. The outlines were simple: “Do a design operation that you are capable of repeating every day. Do it every day for one hundred days.” The project was brought onto social media by Elle Luna in 2014 and has become a platform for reinvention with global reach through Instagram.

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Iskra in Under the Influence, Opening December 5 at SAM Gallery

November 22, 2019 by Iskra 1 Comment

Plum Wine Iskra SAM Show — “Plum Wine,” limited edition print on panel, 24 x 36 © Iskra Johnson

You are invited to the opening of

Under the Influence

at SAM Gallery

December 5, 6 – 7:30 PM
Seattle Art Museum, 1300 1st Ave, Seattle, WA 98101

Artists influenced by Asia are featured in SAM Gallery’s final show of the year. I am excited to be part of this group of artists including Deborah Bell, Alfred Harris, Laura Van Horne and Junko Yamamoto. Each of us is influenced by Asia in very different ways, involving surface, paper, collage, markmaking and photographic innovations. Join in this festive opening and celebrate the Asian influence on Northwest Contemporary art.

My work in this exhibit will show a new way of presenting my work on panel. The limited edition prints are meticulously mounted and sealed in layers of cold wax medium, which creates a subtle hand crafted sheen. Without traditional framing the work becomes an immediate experience of surface and color, unimpeded by reflections. The surfaces are hard to photograph, but here is a capture in the studio showing “As Above So Below,” one of the works that will be shown. If you would like to preview and reserve before the opening I will have these pieces in the studio through next Tuesday before they are delivered to the gallery. Give me a shout and I would be happy to show you in person. There will be an edition of 5 available for each piece, framed traditionally in plexiglass and brushed silver, or mounted in cold wax on panel. All sales through SAM Gallery.

Archival print mounted on panel by Iskra — Print mounted on panel with cold wax

“The Heron,” archival pigment print mounted on panel © Iskra Johnson

I look forward to seeing you to celebrate the launch of the winter holidays!

Invitation to Museo Gallery’s “Playlist” Show

January 23, 2019 by Iskra Leave a Comment

Listening to Bill Frisell print by Iskra — “The Break, 1/5” © Iskra Johnson 26 x 34 archival pigment print on German Etching.

Museo Gallery on Whidbey Island opens its first exhibit for the new year, “Museo’s Playlist” on Saturday night, February 2 from 5-7. The show continues through February 24th and will include a wide range of interpretations from the gallery artists. The invitation to submit work on the theme of music sent me back a few years to a moment that I have never forgotten, the debut of Bill Frisell’s “Big Sur”at Earshot Jazz. I came home from that performance transformed, and did a series of work called “Listening with an Innocent Ear,” in response. The series of work started with one charcoal drawing in black and white, deconstructed and transformed into color, much as music transforms one’s mood. “The Break” is about the moment when a jazz riff goes into uncharted territory.

When I revisited the work to refine, print and frame for the show I realized I wanted to go back to this theme, and have begun a new exploration of both the original compositions and some completely new ideas based on calligraphic ink drawing. I am super excited about the new directions, and urge you to visit me at Instagram to see the process evolve. Here is a variation on the original, and a glimpse of what’s ahead.

Intersection Music Print by Iskra — “Intersection, 1/5” © Iskra Johnson, archival pigment print on German Etching.

Iskra Ink Painting to Music — Improvisation Number 7, Ink on Paper

See process videos at #ink stories. My hand-held video skills may improve with a dive into some apps and hardware, coming soon. Meanwhile the main apps are my ears and my hands.

Iskra Johnson and Alfred Harris in Intersect at SAM Gallery

INTERSECT

Recent Monoprints and an Upcoming Show