Ros Johnson | Process & Texture Manifest

About

Working largely with textiles, Ros takes an interdisciplinary approach to her practice, combining the disciplines of mixed media painting, drawing and textiles. 

Ros exploits the inherent characteristics of her materials, taking an improvisational approach to making, which creates tensions between mediums in the process. This approach she describes as "a haptic collaborative relationship between maker, process and material." Heightening the presence of ‘the unknown’, she explains, results in inexhaustible momentum and spontaneity that is so important to the artist’s work and concepts.

The physical attributes of ‘Line’ in Ros' work serve as a driving force and symbolise the perpetual progression, characteristic of her practice. Overcrowded compositions with an assortment of lines, challenge fashionable minimalist ideals often witnessed in abstract art. These works aim to explore how different types of marks relate to each other, and are an enquiry into what they represent and illustrate for the viewer. The idea, of line, space and ‘in- between space’ crossing over and under in three-dimensional form, drew Ros to explore urban construction sites as her primary stimulation.

‘It is the presence of Line, Deconstructed Surfaces and Intricate Layering that binds my practice’, explains Johnson.  She describes this concept as her own "‘Hierarchy of Texture’ referring to tensions between marks and drawn lines, in contest with each other, and with organic mark-making, for example, and exploring not only an understanding of the approach to image making, but also, themes and meaning. ‘I would say the term ‘Hierarchy of Texture’ provides not only an insight into understanding my approach, but also provides, or rather stimulates the viewer to search for some level of meaning in the visual exploration." (Johnson 2018).