Featured Artists Gray Johnson

The collaborative duo of Gray Johnson presents a dynamic collection of digital art created with layered images. See more of their portfolio by visiting their website.

 

 

We are Gray Johnson Art and we are from Chicago. We are named Jennifer and Phillip—our individual identity is masked by our name. It blurs out the possibility both literally, by morphing our last names into one, and figuratively, that we are collaborative, mixed-media artists.

 

 

When viewing our works, you will notice the different layers, styles and textures that appear in all our works. Using our skills as painters, graphic designers, and photographers we can create highly detailed, visually enticing, and captivating works of art.

 

 

These multi-layered stories blend both of our experiences as artists.  One of us has a major in graphic design and both have Bachelor of Science degrees, neither has a formal art degree—but is that what defines an artist?

 

 

Our work begins to answer this question; an artist is driven by passion, an innate feeling, one that cannot be taught and when we create—all formal education is derailed.

 

 

We can work and weave our ideas seamlessly into one another’s space because it is driven by passion. Our pieces are highly emotive, they tell stories that you must peel away layer by layer. Most recently, we have begun a new series of works where we play off each other’s creation.

 

 

The series involves us blindfolding ourselves and trusting our pen, letting it take the lead until we can sense that the boning of our piece is finished. Together we fill in the empty spaces with color and watch as the story comes to life.

 

 

The new series might not appear multi-layered—but it is, two separate hands created the pieces. Our ability to harmoniously blend is what differentiates us as artists. We are two creative minds, with two different backgrounds, two different races and two different sexes, but only one name when it comes to our art.

 

Gray Johnson Art invites you to follow them on Instagram.

 

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