Approved: 12.08.2008

Katherine Johnson

Artist, Maker

Archived
Approved: 12.08.2008

The methods of creation I use are always simple, that I can do myself using basic tools such as glue, thread and scalpels, to create, or more often, create changes in objects.
The 'alterations' I make stem from innocent observations, double meanings, or taking the meaning of something literally. I am guided by the material or object and what it is capable of doing or saying. Making something literal

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Artist Statement

The methods of creation I use are always simple, that I can do myself using basic tools such as glue, thread and scalpels, to create, or more often, create changes in objects. The 'alterations' I make stem from innocent observations, double meanings, or taking the meaning of something literally. I am guided by the material or object and what it is capable of doing or saying. Making something literal means that it physically becomes what the words say it is. I am intrigued by how magnifying a small part or meaning can allow something as familiar as a book for example, to be seen in a new way, and making visible the extraordinary in the ordinary. My work sits somewhere between fine art and craft, as the methods I use often stem from craft, such as textiles, and paper art, but the objects I create and the ways in which I choose to show them puts them into a fine art context. I am intrigued by the way an object can be perceived depending upon the methods of its production, and where it is experienced. By using craft methods in their creation, it is breaking down part of the boundaries associated with an object in a gallery. The methods of production are not foreign but familiar; allowing the audience to have a relationship with it because of, and not despite their associations about what art is and can be in relation to their everyday lives.

CV & Education

Solo shows

2013 – Alice, Sheffield Central Library, Sheffield - Part of the Fourth Sheffield International Book Prize

2009 - Art in Unusual Spaces, Merrion Centre, Leeds, Leeds Solo exhibitions

2009 - Little Blighters, Brahm Gallery, Leeds

2009 - New Work, Experiments in Book Manipulation, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield

 

Group exhibitions

 2013 - Collaboration with Bank Street Arts, The Last Chapter Bookshop and Gallery, Sheffield

2012 - The House of Secret Histories, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield

2011 - Carto-Graph, Brass Gallery, Headingley, Leeds

2011 - Glimpse, PR1 Gallery, Victoria Building, UCLAN, Preston

2011 - Home from Home, 153 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds

2011 - Make Do and Mend, Chester Performs, Chester Castle 2010 - Collect, Westgate Studios, Wakefield

2010 - Exploding Poetry, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield

 2010 - Minutiae, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield

2010 - The Art Book Book Shop, Oxfam Bookshop, 51 Regents Street, Leamington Spa

2009 - Emergence, Barnsley various locations, Barnsley

2009 - Porno-Graph, Brahm Gallery, Leeds

2009 - The Big Hang, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield

2008 - Gone Tomorrow-two day group show, Holy Trinity Church, Leeds

2008 - Keep the Faith, Demand the Impossible-one night only group show, The Common Place, Leeds 2008 - The Sheffield Artists' Book Prize Exhibition, Bank Street Arts, Sheffield Degree shows

2008 - Eat Cake-Final Year degree show, Leeds Metropolitan University, Leeds Live/Performance 2011 - Make Do and Mend, Home from Home, 153 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds

2011 - Make Do and Mend, Reduction (Young Curators) Broadcasting House, Leeds

 2011 - Make Do and Mend, The Basement, Brighton

2009 - Laugh and the Whole World Laughs With You, The Civic, Mandela Gardens, Barnsley, Barnsley 2008 - Laugh and the Whole World Laughs With You, East Street Arts, Patrick Studios, St. Mary's Lane, Leeds

2008 - You've Got Some Explaining to Do-One night only show curated by the Dirty Collective, The Common Place, Leeds

2007 - Eat Your Words-Collaborative performance with Stacey Allen, Leeds City Central Lending Library, Leeds

2007 - Eat Your Words-Video projection of performance, Speed Queen @ Rehab, Leeds

 

Competitions, prizes and awards

2013 Sheffield Fourth Artist's Book Prize, Bank Street Arts Gallery, Sheffield 

2008 - Sheffield First Artist's Book Prize, Bank Street Arts Gallery, Sheffield Other

2009 - 12th International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair, University of Leeds, Leeds