Emmanuel College Artist in Residence: Darien Johnson
August 11, 2011
Emmanuel College is pleased to once again host the Artists in Residence program during the summer months. This is the second year the College has sponsored the program, which offers four artists the opportunity to create and further develop their artwork while utilizing Emmanuel's Art Department studios and facilities. This year's artists are Drew Ippoliti (sculpture), Darien Johnson (ceramics), Mari LaCure (printmaking) and Francis Schanberger (photography).
Darien Johnson is concerned with how the absorption of information through digital media defines a person's notion of reality. Stemming from an awareness of continually altered states of perceptual consciousness, Darien's work represents the entanglement of human cognition and digital processing. By acquiring and manipulating visual information, he acts as the human element while directly engaging in the process in question. The digital compositions are then china painted onto porcelain forms, which are manifestations of the seemingly fluid movement of human cognition.
Darien received a M.F.A. from Arizona State University in 2009 and a B.F.A. from Saint Cloud State University (Minn.) in 2002. He is a former resident of Experimental Pottery Workshop (Jingdezhen, China, 2008). Darien has been exhibiting his work nationally through numerous venues. He currently is an assistant professor at Buffalo State College in New York.
Darien often lets his environment play a key role in the creative process. As a result, his project this summer very much represents his experience at Emmanuel and the surrounding Fenway area. Darien has made a point to engage his environment, taking walks around campus and the neighborhood in an effort to create a piece of art that encompasses his time in the Boston area.
