Iskra Johnson

My newest work is completely abstract, rooted in my career as a calligrapher and studies with masters of Asian painting. Working on vintage rice papers and other surfaces I create calligraphic gestures influenced by musical rhythms and memory of place. I then immerse the pages of marks in a process of digital alchemy, what I think of as an acid bath, to become something both closer and farther from conscious thought. I work improvisationally, looking always for an unexpected departure. For years as a calligrapher my job was to create legible words. I am interested now in language before translation. These new abstract prints are signed and produced as editions of one, or in small limited editions of 3 to 5. They are printed on rag paper with archival inks rated for 150 years or more. A number of industrial landscapes and botanicals blending painting and photography are also available through SAM Gallery