We had the good fortune of connecting with Vicki Johnston and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Vicki, what inspires you?
Nature – awe inspiring beauty of every landscape – there is always beauty to be found, even in stark, desolate landscapes – there is always light, color and shapes. I am inspired by the dignity, majesty and zen-like personas of wild animals – how they keep moving and doing what Nature intended them to do, no matter what challenges they encounter.

My art is about the takeover/destruction of natural habitats, and highlights how humans impose control through infliction of pain.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My sculptures have organic personas – they look like windblown grass, nests, vessels – but they are made from rusty barbed wire. The old wires I use have witnessed many decades of changes so they have story-telling energy.

Acquiring hundreds of pounds of barbed wire to make my sculptures, and finding the materials to line the insides of my sculptures take me to places I never imagined : sheep ranches, bison ranches, meat processing plants, county dumps, metal scrap yards, etc.
The biggest challenge throughout my career has been maintaining a continuous presence in the art world – galleries and museums have only recently made a shift to be more inclusive of women and people of color – thankfully.  Maybe I’ll be “famous” when I’m dead!

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I like easy-to-moderate hikes in the mountains that are within one to two hour drive.

Good food/drink at good restaurants, galleries and museums.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I was recommended for this interview by Christie Greene of Wild Aware in Evergreen, Colorado. Christie has been advocating for saving land and animals for decades, working with children and adults. She is very good at communicating and interacting with narrow minded politicians also.

Website: Lineations.com

Instagram: vlinesx

Other: Low profile on social network. Never signed up for FB, never will.

Image Credits

Vicki Johnston with sculpture-in-progress – this piece is about bisons. It will be lined with shed bison hair.
Closeup of “Soft Inside With Feathers” 57” x 50” x 29” high
Inside of “Wolf Trap in Sheep’s Clothing”. 21” tall, 16” diameter. Barbed wire, steel wire, black Welsh sheep wool, vintage wolf trap.
“Coyote in a Cube” 24” x 20” x 16”. Barbed wire, bailing wire, coyote skeleton articulated into a sleeping circle, vintage anvil
Outside of  “Wolf Trap in Sheep’s Clothing”. 21” tall, 16” diameter. Barbed wire, steel wire, black Welsh sheep wool, vintage wolf trap.
“Prairie Wave #2”. Base is 9” x 11.5”, 16” high. Approx 1200 wires Barbed wire, steel fence post, wood, epoxy.

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