They could be aerial photographs of islands or the detail of an urban landscape surrounded by, and sharing space with a shifting and mountainous terrain.  Porosities (the state of property or structure being porous) is the title of a new series of works by German-born artist Ina Johann that asks us to reconsider and look again at our relationship with nature and our constructed environment.  It is also a solo exhibition by the artist, widely known for her work in tandem with artist Victoria Edwards as Edwards + Johann. 

The subjects of Johann’s new works in graphite, paint and Perspex are exquisite in their execution and detail, objective and scientific in their rendering of the natural world, cityscapes and architectural forms and boundaries.  Yet, the notion our detachment from the subjects of Porosities is challenged by an encounter with the equally curious realties and unrealities of Johann’s images.   Where are these worlds, and what are they detailing and describing?  Do they exist and is nature redirecting and reinstating its presence? 

Porosites is a body of work that has evolved from the artist’s time in lockdown, exploring the familiarity of her local neighbourhood, photographingand taking notes and documenting plant life and fungi and the ecology and built-structures that make up our world.  Porosites is an exhibition about looking – and then looking again.

 DETAILS

Ina Johann, Porosities

Ashburton Art Gallery, 327 West Street

20 February – 26 March

IMAGE

1. Ina Johann, A Rambunctious Garden #4, 2020, dye, flashe and ink drawing on C-type photograph