Attentive Blooms, Future Transformations
SARAH MOREJOHNAttentive Blooms, Future Transformations
June 4th – July 17th, 2024
Bryant Street Gallery is excited to announce Attentive Blooms, Future Transformations, a new exhibition showcasing the intricate hand-drawn works of Sarah Morejohn. This collection of exquisitely executed drawings will be on view from June 4th to July 17th, 2024. The gallery and artist welcome the public to an opening reception on Saturday, June 8th, from 3-5 p.m.
The impossible ecosystems of Attentive Blooms, Future Transformations are complex renderings executed with thoughtful precision that undercuts their playful facade. The pen-doodle semblance is further enforced by the inky, rich flushes of indigo that dominate the drawings. The nature that appears in these worlds is wide-ranging: snowflakes, berries, branches, leaves, flowers, ferns, cells, raindrops, and even fire and lightning. Micro- and macroscopic flora and fauna are represented on the same scale, as each composition is more a representation of biological relationships than a literal depiction. They can be read as maps of how water, cells, bacteria, plants, and other elements of nature work together and depend on each other.
Morejohn employs an intuitive and organic drawing process. Her linework is improvised, every spark and bloom emerging spontaneously. Morejohn embraces drips, spills, and other so-called mistakes, finding ways to incorporate them into the piece. In this way, her artmaking becomes a practice of learning to deal with the ever-changing uncertainties of life, of accepting a state of being lost until one arrives at an unexpected result.
Living through a historic blizzard left Morejohn fascinated with the intricate structures of snow crystals. Counter to their representation in pop culture, most snowflakes are not symmetrical, since the crystals get damaged or shattered as they fall to earth. Increasing global temperatures also affect their shapes, making perfect snow crystals increasingly rare. As Morejohn grew more intrigued by snowflakes, she began to see parallels with her own experience of having chronic illnesses. To her, the rarity of a perfectly symmetrical snowflake reflected the rarity of a perfectly functioning body. Additionally, studying snowflake structure gave her an appreciation for nature’s imperfect patterns, for its beauty and flexibility despite the horrors of climate change.
Morejohn lives and works in Oakland. She grew up in rural Oregon and received her BFA in drawing and painting from the University of Oregon in 2011. Her intricate drawings are included in numerous private collections, and feature in the permanent connections at Montefiore Medical Center in Bronx, New York, the Physics department at the University of Oregon, and the Project Art and Medical Museum in Iowa City, Iowa.
Attentive Blooms, Future Transformations will be on view at 532 Bryant Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 from June 4th to July 17th. For more images and information please visit the website at www.bryantstreet.com or email us at bryantst@mac.com
Bio:
Morejohn grew up in rural Oregon, and currently lives and works in Oakland, CA. In 2011 she earned a BFA in painting and drawing from the University of Oregon. Her intricate drawings are a part of numerous private collections, and in the permanent collecti ons at Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, NY), Physics Department at the University of Oregon (Eugene, OR), and Project Art & Medical Museum, University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics (Iowa City, IA). Her work has been exhibited at Bryant Street Gallery (Palo Alto, CA), Empty Set Gallery (Bronx, NY), Kenise Barnes Fine Art (Larchmont, NY), Collar Works (Troy, NY), The Drawing Rooms (Jersey City, NJ), and Schema Projects (Brooklyn, NY). She was awarded an artist- in - residence at Lacawac Sanctuary and Biological F ield Station (Lake Ariel, PA) and has been published in Superstition Review and Hyperallergic.
Artist Statement:
Thinking of these symbolic connections between nature, the body, and climate change, I draw partial six-fold symmetries. Sharp angles soften and wiggle, cell-like shapes minnow along as branches and flowers become a part of the flotsam disconnected from the earth. Drawn line by line, the figurative snow crystals become interlaced with each other and their environment, jumbling towards their future transformations. My drawing process is intuitive and organic. For this reason, I include drips and spills, and run with flaws and mistakes by collaging pieces of drawings together as a way of dealing with the ever-changing uncertainties of life.
Untitled Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper 22” x 18”
Strawberry Lightning Ink, colored pencil, graphite, and watercolor on paper 42.5” x 30”
Apple or Plum Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper 30” x 22”
Rain, Lightning Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper 55” x 33”
Blue Strawberry Ink and watercolor on paper 36” x 26”
Falling Down Ink and watercolor on paper 30” x 22”
Ink and colored pencil on paper 14” x
Nebular 11”
Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper 30” x 22”
Pine Bough
February
Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper
51.5” x 28.5”
Leaves, Puddles
Ink, colored pencil, and graphite on paper 30” x 22”
Mycorrhizal Ambiguity Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper 30” x 22”
Igniting Frost Ink, colored pencil, and graphite on paper 14” x 11”
Orange Berries Ink, colored pencil, and graphite on paper 30” x 22”
Oh No, Rounded Snow Ink and watercolor on paper 38” x 29”
Here is a Possibility Ink, graphite, and colored pencil on paper 30” x 22”
Big Drop Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper 30” x 22”
Perfection Ink, colored pencil, and graphite on paper
48.5” x 30”
Where?
Ink, colored pencil, and watercolor on paper 14” x 11”
Waterfall Ink, colored pencil, and graphite on paper 14” x 11”
Yes No Strawberries Ink and colored pencil on paper 30” x 22”
Blue Apple Puddle Ink, watercolor, and colored pencil on paper 27” x 22”
