I’m Ella Johnston.
I have been an exhibiting artist for more than 20 years.
My practice is an ongoing exploration of mark-making processes, the calligraphic line and the meaning, or non-meaning, ascribed to them.
In recent years my work has shifted from a fascination with nature to concepts of nostalgia, homesickness, text, memory, colour and shape.
Inspired by abstract expressionism, graffiti art, modernist and minimalist art of the 20th Century, my current paintings are a celebration of the streets, people, music, and community of my childhood and teens.
I approach each work as a palimpsest, creating multi-layered assemblages of line, colour and form.
I grew up in London, on the working-class borders of Hackney and Islington. I first studied art at Chelsea Art College before completing a degree in Art History and Literature at the University of Essex.
In London, working out of studios in Tottenham and Bermondsey, and screen printing at the London Print Studio, my work included: large-scale nature drawings shown at the five-star Hempel Hotel; an installation ‘Banco Internacionale de Sloganeers’ at the KLF’s The Foundry bar and art space; and ‘floral tributes’ for victims of war, which appeared at roadsides as guerrilla art around the Square Mile.
Moving to Wivenhoe in 2011, I co-founded the small indie book publisher and art project Dunlin Press, where as creative director I also designs the books’ cover artwork. I am also art and creative consultant for Mitsubishi Pencil Company.
I am an occasional illustrator for St Martin’s Press, New York, and am regularly commissioned as a feature and cover artist for a variety of print magazines and journals.
I trained in art at Chelsea College of Art and in history of art at the University of Essex. I am a member of The Other MA (TOMA) 24-26 cohort.
CONTACT ME
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