Kysa Johnson (born 1974, Evanston, Illinois)[1] is a contemporary artist whose drawings, paintings, and installations explore patterns in nature that exist at the extremes of scale.
[2] Using the shapes of subatomic decay patterns, maps of the universe, or the molecular structure of pollutants or of diseases and cures – in short, microscopic or macroscopic “landscapes” – Johnson's work depicts a physical reality that is invisible to the naked eye.
Her work has been written about extensively in publications including Artforum,[4] The New York Times,[5] Interview Magazine,[6] and The San Francisco Chronicle.
According to Helen A. Harrison "the images are both literal and metaphoric -- clever, subversive conflations of the biblical and the biological" -- "stare at them for a while, and the El Greco underpinnings emerge".
By this I mean more than just the complex natural phenomena at play in the Delaware River, but also the psychological, cultural, and historical overlay which is part of the landscape.
A 2014 article by Rachel Small in Interview Magazine explores common themes in her work in relation to her solo show at Halsey McKay Gallery.