Voyage in Africa

"Ynez Johnston graduated in 1946 from University of California, Berkeley with honors as a painter and printmaker. She was fascinated by Chinatown of San Francisco and the Bay surrounding the hills of the city. She moved to Los Angeles in 1951 to teach and create; early awards led to shows and work abroad. The images of her travels combined into a collage of visual experiences. Her concerns are in the suspension of time relationships, in creating a drama which synthesizes an exotic metamorphosis of animals, foliage and structures. She creates intriguing fantasies in etchings and woodcuts, collage, paintings, wood and bronze sculptures. Johnston makes dramatic use of jewel-like colors and bold lines in her work in various media. She also embraces new techniques.

Her aesthetic vocabulary prods our memories and references romantic and mystic cultures. Throughout, she is guided by a modern sensitivity and suggests teeming cities, landscapes, gorgeous royal trappings and improbable vehicles in which we can travel through magical settings. "