Explore the life and art of contemporary painter Cheryl Johnson. Discover her unique style balancing bold gestural abstraction with sensitive, nature-inspired expression.
Cheryl Johnson is a significant contemporary painter known for exploring the vital connection between realism and abstraction, balancing bold, gestural mark-making with sensitive expression.
Drawing inspiration from Abstract Expressionism, her non-objective and figurative early works transitioned into abstract representational themes. She creates abstract oil paintings, drawings, and prints, working in various mediums including oil on canvas, pastel on paper, and lithographic printing.
Cheryl's art is deeply inspired by her life's journey and heritage, particularly her Finnish heritage and the landscapes of her birthplace in Idaho, and extensive travels.
Her transcendent eye propels her to explore the emotions of place. As a strong environmental awareness advocate, nature often energizes her canvases. She resonates with a deftly modulated palette of translucent and opaque colors, translating her acute visual observations of form, space, and color into expressive, fluid movements that reflect the harmony and tenacity of the natural world.
Artist Statement: "My work leans into the emotion between the strength of the natural world and the fragility of the self."
In the autumn of 2019, while working from her studio in Kauai, Cheryl initiated a pivotal shift in her artistic practice. This period, inspired by daily meditation and the beauty of the surrounding space, led to the "Quiet Reflections" series. This innovation allowed her to refine her composition, embrace softer warm colors, and utilize space in a new, self-awakening approach.
Currently, Cheryl prefers to paint boldly on large canvases, bringing an enormity of emotion to her work, whether through individual gestures—juxtaposing the large and sweeping with the small and delicate—or by pouring oils freely in the style of Color Field artists.
Cheryl Johnson's studios are in Charlotte, NC, and Hanalei, Kauai, HI. Her paintings are held in private homes throughout the US, and her commercial work is featured in hotels, restaurants, and streaming across media platforms.
Cheryl's pseudonyms are Cherinow and Cherah Boryl Jaurvaii. Her family and friends affectionately call her Cheri'. Birthdate of February 12, 1947, she shares the Aquarian birthday amazingly of her artistic inspiration, Joan Mitchell.I would like more to paint what it leaves me with."
- Joan Mitchell
