Mandy Johnston is a practicing visual artist based in Cape Town, South Africa. She earned a Master’s degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2003. Since then, Johnston has collaborated on various inner-city art projects and initiatives, including Assemblage (an arts facilitation organization) and the Artist Career Development Program. She has presented six solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions.
Johnston's works are part of multiple corporate and private collections. Notably, her pieces for the "Negotiate" group show at the Johannesburg Art Gallery were commissioned by the "Makeshift" project, initiated by the Joubert Park Project and the Canadian National Art Gallery. Johnston is currently working on a new body of work while mentoring young artists.
Artist Statement:
I am interested in the notion that things are often defined by their antithesis and that often the formation of a value is around the threat of absence. There is pain and fear associated with absence with a thing that once filled space literally or figuratively, now open and vulnerable to be absorbed, used, ignored or quoted. In this, there is also opportunity for reflection, renewal and rebirth. My work almost always refers to a specific historical and cultural context. I use materials for the contextual values, definitions and symbolisms they bring. I am currently interested in the experiential, visceral responses to works of art and am in search of its recipe."
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Mandy Johnston is a practicing visual artist based in Cape Town, South Africa. She earned a Master’s degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in 2003. Since then, Johnston has collaborated on various inner-city art projects and initiatives, including Assemblage (an arts facilitation organization) and the Artist Career Development Program. She has presented six solo exhibitions and participated in numerous group exhibitions.
Johnston's works are part of multiple corporate and private collections. Notably, her pieces for the "Negotiate" group show at the Johannesburg Art Gallery were commissioned by the "Makeshift" project, initiated by the Joubert Park Project and the Canadian National Art Gallery. Johnston is currently working on a new body of work while mentoring young artists.
Artist Statement:
I am interested in the notion that things are often defined by their antithesis and that often the formation of a value is around the threat of absence. There is pain and fear associated with absence with a thing that once filled space literally or figuratively, now open and vulnerable to be absorbed, used, ignored or quoted. In this, there is also opportunity for reflection, renewal and rebirth. My work almost always refers to a specific historical and cultural context. I use materials for the contextual values, definitions and symbolisms they bring. I am currently interested in the experiential, visceral responses to works of art and am in search of its recipe."
