Sarah Anne Johnson, Bubble, 2011

Sarah Anne Johnson conceived of the series “Arctic Wonderland” after an artist’s residency on a ship sailing the Norwegian territory of the Arctic Circle. As she traveled through this tremendous and pristinely beautiful landscape, Johnson could not help but contemplate the possibility that human beings would eventually destroy it. Johnson took photographs during the expedition and later manipulated them with paint, Photoshop, and embossing. She wanted to challenge photography’s capacity adequately to represent the vast complexity of either the landscape or her emotional response to it. “I do this to create a more honest image,” Johnson has said. “To show not just what I saw, but how I feel about what I saw.” The resulting body of work interrogates notions of perpetual progress, innovation, and expansion. The work also explores the psychological terrain of grappling with ecological challenges that can seem insurmountable.

Stamp Gallery, 2016