Untitled

Ynez Johnston

Two ships arrive in the waters of a crowded port city in Inez Johnston’s pictograph-like composition. Done in layered color stencil overlaid with block print in solid black, Johnston’s style borrows from ancient pictorial works found on cave walls and painted scrolls to produce imagery that echoes the past, and yet her technique roots her firmly in mid-century modern aesthetic.

Johnston employs thin, labyrinthine linework that darts through the underlying mesh of color, creating a vibrant energy that makes the city and ships appear illuminated, as if lit in celebration against the black of a night sky. As is often true with Johnston’s work, this image tells a story that is left open to the viewer to determine.