Jess Johnson

JESS JOHNSON b.1979,Tauranga, New Zealand. Lives and works between New Zealand and the US.

The concept of world-building lies at the center of Jess Johnson’s work, which reflects her interests in science fiction, language, technology, and concepts of consciousness. Over several years, her drawings have documented an increasingly complex fictional world; they are meshworks of cultural symbology, humanoid clones, messianic figures, and alien runes placed in architectural settings.

Her drawing practice feeds into installations and collaborations in animation, music, fashion, Virtual Reality, and textile art. These additional mediums bring the world of her drawings into physical and virtual spaces, providing an immersive experience for audiences.

In May of 2018, Johnson and collaborator Simon Ward premiered TERMINUS, a major five-part virtual reality commission and solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. TERMINUS is currently on a multi-year tour throughout Australasia.

Another important recent collaboration has been with her mother, Cynthia Johnson, a quilter based in New Zealand. Jess and Cynthia have been collaborating on quilts since 2018.

As well as regular exhibitions in Australia and New Zealand, Jess has had three solo exhibitions at Jack Hanley Gallery in New York City and another at Nanzuka Gallery, Tokyo in 2019.

Jess has recently completed a 12 month residency in Roswell, New Mexico producing a series of work shown at the Roswell Museum and Goddard Planetarium. She has also undertaken a five-month studio residency at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY (2019), a month-long residency at the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire (2018), a year-long studio residency at the International Curatorial & Studio Program in Brooklyn, NY (2016-2017), a ten-week residency for artists working in themes of science fiction at the Bemis Center in Nebraska (2016) and a month-long residency at the University of Edinburgh’s Talbot Rice Gallery in conjunction with a solo exhibition at the Edinburgh Arts Festival (2016).

Johnson’s work is held in public and private collections throughout Australasia and internationally; including the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth, Monash University Museum of Art, Melbourne, Auckland Art Gallery, and Christchurch Art Gallery, New Zealand.