Celebratory visions of trees

 

Images (left to right) SSFPP2, 2023 © Sarah Anne Johnson / courtesy Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto,
and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York. ACITR, 2020 © Sarah Anne Johnson / courtesy
Stephen Bulger Gallery, Toronto, and Yossi Milo Gallery, New York.

A new exhibition titled "Woodland" by Sarah Anne Johnson has opened in Toronto. The exhibition includes a collection of photographs taken by Johnson during her travels through the forests of Canada, which she then manipulates with paint and collage to create dreamlike and surreal images. Johnson demonstrates a wonderful ability to blur the lines between reality and imagination and create a unique visual experience for viewers. The has been especially concerned about the dangers to trees in Canada's national parks. The exhibition is on display at the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto from May 6 until June 24, 2023.

Some of her earlier work appeared in "Tree Planting" an exhibition featuring 65 photographs which capture the experience of young adults participating in a tree-planting rite-of-passage in deforested areas of Manitoba. Johnson's images include photographs of people and locals, as well as hand-crafted clay dolls and miniature dioramas constructed in her studio. These two sets of images are presented together to express both the physical realities of the labor and the sublimity of nature, conveying a sense of community and connection to the land that the work engenders.


ADDITIONAL READING ==> https://akimbo.ca/listings/sarah-anne-johnson-woodland/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Anne_Johnson

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