Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Artist Statement

A simple gesture of a line repeated inaugurates a pattern. A manipulation of this pattern captures and defines space. The drawings shown are derived from a deep concentrated thought process; each drawing becoming its own meditation. Lines that hold each other, lines that break apart to create voids, lines that touch and lines that just miss each other are relationships produced through the abstraction of the simple pattern that emerges from my meditations.

When I learned to draw, the first lessons were to draw “living lines”. Almost twenty years later, I find myself living in the lines I draw. Lines have become a standard way for me to represent myself in the architectural and art worlds that I define myself in. With an early education in arts including painting, drawing and sculpture, I eventually began to understand my process. To follow a line of a curve, to slow down and see everything one line at a time, I find character in each precise movement. This process is supported by my formal education in architecture. Currently I work in both fields and am constantly evolving but always returning to the line.
Born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan in 1980, Marta Elise Johansen spent most of her childhood traveling worldwide with her parents. She grew up based in Vermont and has lived in California for the past twelve years. She currently resides in Venice.






Thursday, January 25, 2007