Tiana Johnson
Recently I made a series of oil paintings about my childhood back in China with my family. My works cover objects that I remember deeply. I try to express my memories through the perspective of children in hazy paintings. For me, this arrangement of my memory is a way for me to recall my childhood. I work with pencil, oil paint, oil pastel, watercolor. I like to use black and white convergence to create a sense of volume in the picture.
I began with Moonlight, a watercolor that describes my childhood connected to music in the context of my piano studies. The Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 moonlight sheet music in the background with rectangles on it reflects the silhouette of skyscrapers in the city I lived in. But with the music, I felt like I was in a quiet forest, watching the moonlight spill into the forest pond. Starting with this piece, I started to create a series of art in the theme of my childhood memory. Since I am more used to sketching, I started with relatively figurative still life sketches. I drew some of the items I remember from my grandparents' house that stood out to me - my grandfather's water bottle and my grandmother's sewing machine.
I began with Moonlight, a watercolor that describes my childhood connected to music in the context of my piano studies. The Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 14 moonlight sheet music in the background with rectangles on it reflects the silhouette of skyscrapers in the city I lived in. But with the music, I felt like I was in a quiet forest, watching the moonlight spill into the forest pond. Starting with this piece, I started to create a series of art in the theme of my childhood memory. Since I am more used to sketching, I started with relatively figurative still life sketches. I drew some of the items I remember from my grandparents' house that stood out to me - my grandfather's water bottle and my grandmother's sewing machine.