Judith Johnson
Sacramento CA
Age 68
What keeps you excited in the studio?
The studio is the place where any idea that is regarded as important or curious gets explored.
Looking back at your trajectory as an artist, how would you say your work has developed?
On my trajectory I have moved from the insecurity of not knowing things I feel I should to now fully embracing the unknown as a mysterious field worthy of research.
What role do you think the artist has in today’s society?
We artists must be both provocateurs and the angel of solace.
What’s the most important advice you could give to an aspiring artist?
Pay attention to what is going on in the world and get quiet an go within. I think that is the dichotomy that services artists best.
Does age matter in art? Why or why not?
Age is like a thermometer measuring quantity of experiences. Each of us explore and express what we know at a given time. There is no better or worse. We are just the person responding at a given time. Looking back on my young-person art making I reflected ambition (which I needed) and fear of that big, demanding place called the “art world”. As I have gotten much older my work reflects a confidence that comes from looking at the daemon head on. My work now reflects a degree of “fuck you” in that I care about my work more than I care about all of those opinions floating around out there.
What can we look forward to from you next?
I have stopped trying to save the world and myself and am much more focused on fellow creatures that fill my wilderness-world. The history of things and places are getting a voice within my developing work.
Is there anything else you would like to share about being an artist later in life?
Keep your body healthy so you can have a later life of Art and as that book, The Handmaiden’s Tale said, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.”
http://www.judith Johnson-artist.com
@judith.fa.johnson
