Keith Johnston lives and paints in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Johnston's approach to abstract expression is mediated by a comparatively spare sensibility of color and economy of composition.
His tonal arrangements of light and dark space embrace but never fully yield to hints of indistinct form. Though often suggesting a kind of calligraphic gesture that commands attention, the arrangements confer simultaneously the possibility for Zen-like meditative calm.
Johnston conceives his work on wood panel in encaustic, which is often scraped and reapplied until finally graphite is added in the resolution of the ultimate composition. He works without labored premeditation or preliminary sketches, and his masterful sense of spontaneity coincides with a confident simplicity reflecting his allegiance to a reductive vision that attaches significance to each color, line, shape or form.The productive void created by the absence of extraneous colors, lines and details is key to Johnston's vision.
Artist's Statement
New century - new outlook - changes - back to drawing, back to basics, back to black and white - I adore drawing, I want to see the markings of the artist hand, the process of spontaneity, the economy. Where subtlety, pitch, line or blocking, with the slightest of movement, can completely alter the work.
I aspire to this - to convey a kind of energy / that this intensity will transmit to the viewer. Highly polished pictures have a way of self - importance, keeping one at a distance with an extreme proficiency - just the opposite of what I want to do: from afar, graphic and assured - closer inspection - hand made marks.
Collections
Sara Moon, Photographer, Paris, France
Tony Lambert, Designer, Barbados
Peter Krivcov, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Peter Sandford, President, Adrac Visual Communications, Princeton, New Jersey
Sam West, Actor, London, England
Jean McCartney, Art Director, Calvin Klein, New York, New York
Dr. Satish Reddi, New York, New York
Nike Lanning, Nike Lanning Fashion Design, New York, New York
Ken Skalski, Photographer, New York, New York
Diane Meier, Meier Advertising, New York, New York
Patricia Heal, Photographer, New York, New York
Barbara von Schreiber, Photographer Representative, New York, New York
Dr. Randall Marshall, New York, New York
Tessa Bakker, Interior Designer, New York, New York
Simon Hunter, President, Marble Works, Charing Cross, London
Sophie Kohn, Advertising, Sloan Square, London
Matthew Weaitt, Law Professor, Oxford, England
Alvin Booth, Photographer, France