Annie Johns’ art is concerned not only with the intrinsic act of making, but with the materiality of her subject matter and its visual manifestations.
She works with a wide range of the most delicate and often extraordinary materials: wax, fuse wire, kapok, paper bags, gold leaf, hemp, bitumen, gesso, plant forms and ash which she skilfully transforms into an intricate web of ideas. It is important that her work is task orientated and time consuming, so that the process of her making becomes an integral expression of the finished work. Every element, from the work itself to the form of presentation is manipulated with the same care, diligence and precision.
Her art is always more than you see, it is an amalgamation of everything that she is; from her interest in Greek mythology, to her love of literature, to her knowledge of plants. She weaves memory, history and language throughout her work as important metaphors, and as a reference back to self.
