Combining Visual Languages: The Portfolio of Darien A-Johnson
Abraaaasion (alternate view), porcelain, mixed media
Darien A-Johnson is originally from Minnesota. The artist has lived throughout the US and in Copenhagen, Denmark -- spending a few years there as a full-time studio artist. After moving to Atlanta, Georgia, Darien now teaches as an assistant professor at Atlanta State University, while maintaining a studio practice in which he plays with combining visual languages.
Just in the is Fleeting (detail), porcelain, mixed media
I appreciate the way that Darien explores form in his artworks, often addressing the divide between the real and the digital; the actual, tactile world, and the illusions that many of us interact with each day.
In many of his works, Darien uses ceramic and mixed media elements to evoke the texture and aesthetic of digital “glitch” art, a style of art that explores the aesthetic appeal and signified meaning of moments where code and digital formats break down. I find Darien’s ceramics fascinating in the way that they combine multiple forms and textures into a single piece that seems both whole, and ever-changing – intriguingly nebulous, yet solid enough to grasp.
