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Byron Johnston

Between the Lines ? Part 2

Kelowna artist Byron Johnston constructs an installation that calls on the architectural space of the Ker Gallery. Utilizing nylon twine to create a series of “walls” within the exhibition space, the work is intended to trigger revelations about the viewer’s interior world through the creation of a unique perceptual space. At once an architectural, graphic and sound work ? should the viewer choose to activate the material’s acoustic possibilities ? Johnston incorporates several miles of twine to execute the project.

Johnston says, “My work is less about sculpture and more about interaction. I encourage spectators to participate and activate the sculpture to experience the perceptual or physical consequences, to create a sense of embodiment. The viewers? challenge is to evaluate competing perceptions, while being placed in unorthodox positions, becoming more aware of the capabilities and vulnerabilities of the body and to gain insight into their own balance and vision.”

Between the Lines ? Part 2 challenges the senses to redefine or translate perceptions that call attention to the infinite articulation of the body.

Perceptual cognition is an area of current, inter-disciplinary science research which examines information processing. Some of the most interesting pieces for me are those that use science. This work is the integration of scientific discovery and artmaking. Whether positioned in a natural environment or in a gallery, my work disrupts the habitual perceptions that shape our understanding and intends to encourage communication,” Johnston says.

Integrating the four columns into the twine work, Johnston will utilize Ker Gallery?s rectilinear space to reveal opportunities for new, thought-provoking experiences. For example, by lowering the ceiling using approximately 7200 ft of nylon twine, the viewer will be challenged to evaluate competing perceptions. The work will emphasize interactions between the intellect, the body and the lived experience.

Byron Johnston received an MFA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1990 and a BFA from the University of Victoria (1988). His work has been featured in Malaysia, Ireland and California, as well as in Washington State, through the Seattle Art in the Park series and the Bellevue Sculpture Park. In Canada, Johnston has exhibited at SKOL and CIRCA Galleries, Montreal; University of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Kelowna Art Gallery, Art Gallery of the South Okanagan, and Vancouver Art Gallery. An upcoming exhibition at Kamloops Art Gallery is scheduled for the Spring, 2005. He is Associate Professor of Sculpture at the Okanagan University College in Kelowna, where he lives and works.