Rebecca Johnson studied stone carving in quarries in Vermont, Indiana and Wales UK. Johnson implements old world methods and techniques combined with contemporary perceptions to convey her ideas about place and environment.

Born in 1958 in Tarrytown, New York, Rebecca grew up in Hopewell, New Jersey and moved to Mendocino County in 1997. She received her BFA from Tyler School of Art, Temple University; and a Masters Degree from The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia.

Honors from the British American Arts Council, Fellowship in Wales and two Fellowship Awards from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts distinguish her career.

Selected shows include: the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Museum of American Art, The Institute of Contemporary Art, the Marcus Pfeifer Gallery (New York), the University of Rhode Island, and the Grace Hudson Museum (Ukiah).

Public and private commissions include: lithic circles, park entrances, bronze bells, water stones, murals, and statues, which were commissioned by the Leeway Foundation, Tufts University, the AIA Corporation, Material Culture Philadelphia, ABC Home Furnishings (New York), and the Boonville People's Park (California).

Teaching experiences include Dartmouth College, Kenyon College, Bucks County College (Pennsylvania), and Camden County College (New Jersey).

Artist's Statement

I start my work conceptually, contemplating the weight of the horizon over deep blue water or the variety of gesture in the heliotropic growth of a gestating seed. I choose shapes that are simple and infer the complex.

An idea becomes grounded in the physical world when working with the tactility and momentum of an object, metal, stone, paint or paper. I draw from my environment not to replicate nature, rather to interpret what I see and feel. The materials I use and the medium in which I work are as varied and abundant as my experiences and observations. Painting and sculpture are cairns marking my places of material and poetic process.