Michelle Johnson is an artist based in Toronto.
Be careful... Sorry
This excessive incontinence - this loss of control - this gelatinous crash sits curiously placeless.
- A dark reflecting pool.
This spill creates a para theatrical space; an odd menacing stage. As the work is approached, the nearness creates wonder and perhaps an unease as the viewers physical body is engaged.
- don’t slip.
This nearness awakens the attention and interrupts a viewer's role.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Prophylactic Garments
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I wash my hands and wear my rubber gloves,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~don my goggles, struggle with my ill-fitting mask,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~hold my breath and cross my fingers.
The impetus of my artwork comes from the moments when my boundaries are
transgressed in the event of trauma; when precautions fail to maintain a sense of
protection from the 'other' and guard my separateness. These moments are recreated,
not in their exact detail but rather in their effect.
I have assumed that the incarnate body is the site of fear and delight; the experience of 'ourselves'. My work combines elements of the obscene and the erotic as it attempts to bring us nearer, not so that we can 'have' ourselves, but rather a "nearness so pronounced that it makes all discrimination of identity and thus forms of property impossible."
Luce Irigaray
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~"I'm only going to touch you here."
