You are invited you to join us at an open house for artist in residence Heather Johnson and a viewing of work in progress from her project In Search of the Frightening and Beautiful.

In Search of the Frightening and Beautiful is a three month long project in which Heather rode her motorcycle from her home in Weehawken, NJ to BoxoHOUSE in Joshua Tree. She is in residence for four weeks and then is riding back again. En route, she is searching for dramatic marks on the landscape made by companies and individuals in the name of art, science or progress. During the residency, she is beginning a new body of work based on what she finds during her travels and on the outcomes of engagement with the local community.   

Strip mines, toxic waste dumps, the monumental artworks of Robert Smithson and other artists, weather maps, and the liberating act of motorcycle travel provide inspiration for Heather’s new embroidered works. Layers of information are intricately stitched on linen, giving the appearance of pen-and-ink drawings from a distance. She is collecting texts, artifacts and other memorabilia from each visited site that will provide source material for the embroideries she will start to make at BoxoHOUSE and complete back at home. In exchange, she will leave behind small art works at these sites for anyone to encounter, collect and keep.    

A blog (http://thefrighteningandbeautiful.blogspot.com) and Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/TheFrighteningAndBeautiful) record Johnson’s comings and goings with photographs, writings and GPS tracks for all to follow. Works created during the residency will be exhibited at BoxoOFFICE in New York City later in the year.  

Heather L. Johnson (born 1969 in Wahiawa, HI) earned her Master of Fine Arts from California College of the Arts in 2001. She has mounted three solo shows at Kesting/Ray (NYC), and her work has been seen in group shows at White Columns (NYC), Austin Museum of Art (TX), and in other galleries and museums around the United States, in Europe and in Japan. She has organized several exhibitions and collaborative projects, including Cracks in the Pavement: Gifts in the Urban Landscape, involving artists from around the world, and most recently, Love Letter, a collection of collaborative site-specific works presented in New York and Paris. Weehawken, NJ is her current home.  

Artist Website: https://www.heatherljohnson.com