Inspired by the thought processes of philosophers Gaston Bachelard and Michel Foucault, artist and architect Liselott Johnsson examines the poetic relationship between changeable materials, like water, light and plants, to architecture and place. Ms. Johnsson creates paintings, sculptures and architectural installations that aim to highlight those immaterial prerequisites that contribute to the development of society. Her installations uncover the cultural and poetic significance of public architectural spaces consigned to oblivion that served a vital function in the past. These include sources of water (washbasins and fountains) and sources of knowledge (monasteries and libraries). Further, her work investigates dreams and memories evoked by nature and infinite space, as found in the expanses of the forest and the sea. She is also intrigued by the formal boundaries of painting and uses materials, space, color and geometry to study the qualities of those limits.
Ms. Johnsson’s work appears both in public architectural places and in art galleries. Her work has been featured in numerous solo and two person shows: Immersive Reflections at Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art, Augusta, GA; DromomaniaX2 at Brooklyn Fire Proof/ Temporary Storage Gallery in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Plantes Voyageuses at the cloister of Monastère de Saorge, a renowned baroque monastery located in the South of France; Lifeboat at Muhlenberg Public Library NYPL in Chelsea, New York; “Hello Polly! This is your 9 o’clock wake-up call!” at Glass Cube @ Hotel Indigo, Athens, Ga.; La Poetique des Lavoirs, at the historic washing basins of the alpine village of Saorge in the Alpes-Maritimes, France and Mad Hot Fox at Grove Hall, Boston Public Library, Dorchester, Mass.
She has participated in numerous group shows, for instance: Sense of Place at Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art in Augusta, Ga., where her painting B Kör På (Grand Prix) obtained the Jury’s Award; Gathered at MOCA GA in Atlanta, Ga. and Oscillations at Steffen Thomas Museum of Art in Madison, Ga. She also contributed the cover and artwork to the award winning illustrated novel The Book of I, published by Jaded Ibis Press.
Ms. Johnsson holds a Master of Architecture from studies at Ecole d’Architecture de Paris-Belleville in Paris, France; Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden and the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation of Columbia University in New York, N.Y., and a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from Lesley University College of Art and Design (Formerly Art Institute of Boston), Cambridge, Mass. Her thesis Painting Beyond Painting: From Pensiero Debole to an Expanded Practice was published by LAP Lambert Academic Publishing.
Her interest in the relationship between art and architectural space has brought her to curate numerous contemporary art exhibitions. She held the position of Gallery Director at the Mary S. Byrd Gallery of Art at Augusta University (formerly Georgia Regents University) until 2015. For further information, please consult the artist’s website: www.liselottjohnsson.com