The Artistic Journey of Ynez Johnston
Ynez Johnston was an American painter, sculptor, printmaker, and educator. Born in Berkeley, United States, she earned her bachelor of fine arts in 1941 from the University of California, Berkeley. Her early career included living and working in Mexico until 1943, and she later moved to Los Angeles in 1949. Her visual language was characterized by mixed-media compositions that often featured ambiguous, semi-abstract figures, plants, animals, and architectural forms within mythical landscapes. She primarily worked in painting, often incising calligraphic lines onto the surface of her works. Her printmaking practice encompassed intaglio, woodblock printing, and lithography, and she also created collaborative wood sculptures with her husband, John Berry.
Exhibitions and Recognition
Throughout her career, Johnston's work was presented in numerous exhibitions, including a solo exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1943 and a presentation at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. She exhibited with various Los Angeles galleries between 1947 and 1949 and was included in a 1950-1951 New Talent exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Her work has been featured in many museum collections, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago.
Her notable works include:
