“I feel the arts have long hidden behind the banner of equality because it sidesteps over the harm and deep imbalances that have been upheld in this industry. Seeking equity is one sure way to embed and apply lateral models to shift both the mindset and framework of the arts in the future. Applying a communal mindset will allow us to address and unpack questions surrounding these issues, develop relevant responses and ultimately safeguard and promote a symbiotic relationship between the arts and the communities we want to reach. I want to continue to centre this awareness through my work to facilitate collective dreaming toward the future arts space.”
As a thinker her practice explores race and mental health, as a publisher and commentator Johnson interrogates the relationship between environmentalism and social justice, and as a printer and collagist she blurs the lines between memory, fiction and fact. Johnson’s first book, the intersectional environmentalist anthology ‘The Slow Grind’, came out in 2020 to resounding acclaim. Featuring leading-edge thinkers and practitioners from across the climate and creative realms from curators to biotechnologists, TSG anchors on and applies the strong relationship between ecology and art to critical discourse.
Johnson has completed artist commissions for The Photographers’ Gallery, Now Gallery and the V&A; exhibited with National Museums Scotland; was nominated by The British Council and The Design Museum as one of 10×10 in 2018 and has been profiled by an array of publications including Apartamento, Creative Review, Garage, i-D and British Vogue. Johnson is a singular and rare voice in our creative industries for her ability to form bonds between the vast areas of her practice and socio-political research, actively embedding curiosity and imaginative tools towards the work of mapping out our future.
