Kathryn Jill Johnson’s expressionistic work combines drawing and painting to create disjointed, but affecting stories across multiple canvases. In her new show in the Main Gallery of Huntsville’s Lowe Mill, Johnson pairs unexpected elements to tell a new story with old words. She uses multiple canvases, rich and unexpected color combinations, and small, almost childlike drawings of ominous figures, to lure the viewer into her meticulously crafted world.
Panels of nontraditional diptychs, triptychs, and multi-panel works act as chapters of a book Johnson is reading or telling. For example, in Principum Individuationis (2024), two canvasses of equal size contain wildly different subjects. On the left, red string flows from several disembodied hands and leads to numerous small drawings including a baby doll in a pink dress, a red and white yo-yo, and a plane headed towards the bottom of the canvas as if it were about to crash. An officer blowing a whistle emitting black smoke that leads the eye onto the next panel, which is occupied by a pale woman with long dark hair and a black box over her eyes.
In other works, Johnson’s panels serve as footnotes: small, but essential. In You’re a Fixation (2024), a marigold background unites four canvases of various sizes. Three are stacked one on top of the other; while one small square sits out to the left. A small square at the top that has three paintings of a man’s head being bandaged. The works evoke a first aid tutorial from WWI. On the extra panel, a white rabbit drawn in graphite wears a necktie. The rabbit stares at the largest panel on which blue wings are drawn. Unattached to a creature, the wings frame each side of the painting like parentheses. In the middle, an upside down bell jar, with two unidentified phallic shapes inside of it. Towards the bottom, disembodied hands hold a belt taut. The rabbit, on its own little island of canvas, adds an unexpected element of whimsy to the piece.
Johnson uses every inch available to her to stimulate the viewer. With He Struck the Ground, a Cavern Appeared (2024) she adorns the three canvases with a gold leaf trim; they are hung at a perfect distance to reflect off each other, creating a glowing effect on the wall. In The Haunted House of Reason (2024), the blank space of a painted background grabs the viewer with dulled sunset colors: lavender, orange, and pink. Using the entire canvas, Johnson creates a dynamic experience. Lowe Mill’s high ceilings, exposed pipe and brick, and cement flooring provide a perfect industrial backdrop for Johnson’s haunting work.
Johnson says in her artist’s statement “I see us as perpetually in a state of medias res, the middle of the action. It feels like our lives are a story, but the force of the past is hidden, malleable, and indistinct.” Johnson goes on to say she is influenced by German Expressionism, not just in style, but subject. Her figures are exaggerated, perhaps to the point of disfigurement. Also like German Expressionists, she alludes to the effects of war resulting in injured bodies: a bandaged head; disembodied, contorted hands with painted fingernails forcibly apply a compress to an arm; an officer vehemently blows a whistle.
Huntsville is home to Redstone Arsenal, NASA, and hundreds of defense companies that make and manage weapons. In a military town like this, it’s not uncommon to see art that references war. Perhaps Johnson’s choice in alluding to historic war and soldiers can be seen as a reflection on the violence seen across the world today, and how Huntsville plays a part in it.
Johnson deftly takes viewers into a contemplation that is whimsical, inquisitive, and macabre with her intuitive understanding of color and ability to tackle dark subject matter with charm.
