ARTIST STATEMENT
My studio practice centers on transformation—of materials, forms, and meanings. I work primarily with objects discarded by society, combining them with sculptural elements to create hybrid forms that explore the ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. These new constructions retain traces of their original identities while taking on new figurative, conceptual, and experiential dimensions.
Over time, my fascination with abandoned objects has deepened, prompting an ongoing inquiry into themes of permanence and decay, strength and vulnerability. With age, I’ve become more attuned to the porous boundaries between these opposing forces. In my work, the tension between the figurative and the abstract gives rise to unexpected narratives. In my Ephemeral Presence series, the body’s shifting agency and instability come to the fore. These lightweight, translucent forms move with light and air, offering fleeting glimpses of presence while emphasizing fragility and impermanence.
Working with natural and salvaged materials, recurring motifs emerge- biomorphic forms, layered textures, and patterns that echo the organic structures of the natural world—from the everyday to the cosmic, from the rooted to the ephemeral. Through these materials and forms, I seek to give shape to transformation itself—a quiet dialogue between what was, what is, and what might become.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Award winning artist, Indira Freitas Johnson’s identity has evolved as part sculptor, cultural worker, peace activist and educator. Johnson grew up in Mumbai, India, influenced by an artist father, an ardent follower of Gandhi’s teachings and a social activist mother. This combination of art and activism has been a major thread of influence that is interwoven into her art and life. It has fueled her passion and commitment to make art part of everyday life, involve local voices and communities in the art process and cultivate peace as individual action. Over the course of Johnson’s career, she has received numerous awards and grants including multiple grants from the Illinois Art Council for art excellence and project support, Kohler Company, Arts and Industry Grant, the Virginia Groot Foundation, Arts Midwest NEA, Arts International Travelling Fellowship, Art ConText, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, the Pew Charitable Trust, and the prestigious Illinois Governor’s Award for the Arts.
In addition, Chicago Magazine named Johnson the 2013 Chicagoan of the Year. Exhibited nationally and internationally Johnson’s work is represented in numerous private and public collections including the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, RI, Mobile Museum of Art, Mobile AL, University of Illinois, Champaign, il. Loyola University Museum of Art, Chicago, Haeinsa Temple, South Korea, City of Evanston, Evanston, IL. Chicago Transit Authority, Kohler Art Center, Sheboygan, WI, Krasl Art Center, St Joseph, MI, Chicago Veteran’s Home, Chicago IL.
© Indira Feitas Johnson