Inner Light of the Rose (Study II) Print

Michael J. Johnson currently works at ChaShaMa studios in Matawan, NJ. Michael’s process is contemplative & his practice aspires to virtue; patience, temperance, fortitude. Apollonian in nature, Michael makes art that demonstrates a clear state of mind, visualizing metaphysical systems of order as an antidote to the illusions of chaos. The study of philosophy, theology and poetry informs his pursuit. He operates with the passionate belief that art is a way to expand the potentials of human perception. The function of an image is to open up the inner self of the viewer to a shared state of recognition, assimilating the senses into a raised awareness of mind. Oscillating between abstraction and representation, a recurring motif in his work is a relation between geometry and the natural world. Drawing from a vocabulary of symbolism and allegory, the paintings resonate on levels of both immediate vibrational impact and far-reaching thought, transmuting energies of the material world to bring them into grace.