I create art to tell stories. The stories I’m most interested in telling are ones of healing. Stories that aren’t afraid to face real darkness, but also aren’t afraid to express hope or joy. I’m a digital artist who primarily uses mobile devices to create art. The choice in media is related in part to my own healing story. Bed bound during an illness, I began using an iPad because I could hold it in my hands while lying down. My own healing journey with both physical and mental illness is the backdrop against which my art is created. But my art reaches outward, seeking connection to others–to their experiences and their stories.
2022
Your Dream is You 2022, ArtsOnlineGallery, juried. (Upcoming: December 26-January 15, 2023)
2021 Mobile Photography Awards. Two Honorable Mentions in Visual FX and Digital Art
2021
Your Dream Is You, Istanbul, Turkey (moved online due to Covid). juried
New Life Exhibition, Fondazione per l’arte Bartoli Felter, Cagliari, Italy. juried
MDAC 2021, Mobile Digital Arts & Creativity Summit, Pacific Art League Gallery, Palo Alto, California. Winner. juried
2020
2020 Mobile Photography Awards. Honorable Mention in Digital Art
Windows of Hope, Hub South End, Charlotte, NC juried
All Colors of the World, MEM del Mediterraneo, Cagliari, Italy. juried
MDAC 2020, Mobile Digital Arts & Creativity Summit, virtual exhibition. Honorable Mention. juried
Mira Mobile Prize, Mira Forum, Porto, Portugal. juried
The Impossible Exhibition-Covid Sessions, Part 2, The New Era Museum, online exhibition
Home Grown, Cornelius Arts Center, Cornelius, NC
2017
Home Grown, Cornelius Arts Center, Cornelius, NC
2016
Home Grown, Cornelius Arts Center, Cornelius, NC
2015
Story, Old Town Public House, Cornelius, NC (solo)
Element, Brick Row Gallery, Cornelius, NC
2014
The Power of Labeling, The Incluseum, online exhibition
Zalop: Illusory Correspondence Art, Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Convergence, Brick Row Gallery, Cornelius, NC
Big Art Comes in Small Packages, Peter Street Fine Arts Gallery, Orillia, Ontario
2013
Small Works Invitational, Brick Row Gallery, Cornelius, NC
2010
Plastic Exhibition, Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Slick Willy: BP’s Oil Slick, Archetype Art Gallery, Atlanta, GA
Madison Area Open Art Studios Visual Poetry Exhibition, Madison, WI
VISPO, Eyedrum Art and Music Gallery, Atlanta
2022
FAA Journal: The Federation of Australian Astrologers Inc, cover image, June 2022.
2019
Only Mobile Art, cover and image features, May/June/July 2019, pages 37-43.
2017
Horizons Magazine, image feature: Gender Identity and the Sacred: Widening the Church’s Embrace, March/April 2017, page 12.
2015
Sopher Press, commission: book cover: Erotic Faith: Desire, Suffering, & Transformation in the Incarnational Theology of Wendy Farley, Mari Kim, Ed., Upland: Sopher, 2015
2013
Sopher Press, commission: book cover: Lovely Tents of Jacob: the Vagina in Scripture, Erica L. Martin, Upland: Sopher, 2013
2019
Artist Watch: Melissa D Johnston, Escape into Life, July 18, 2019, feature.
2016
Collector’s Choice: Melissa D. Johnston, Kirstein Fine Art, May 13, 2016, feature.
2015
Exhibit explores artist’s trauma, The Herald Weekly, December 26-31, 2015, pages 18-19, article/interview. Online version here.
‘Story’ on Display at OTPH, Lake Norman Citizen, November 24, 2015, article.
Artist Melissa D Johnston Revisited, Ennyman’s Territory, November 8, 2015, interview
Exhibit shows art ‘elements’, The Herald Weekly, August 13, 2015, interview
2014
The Artists of ‘Convergence’ Opening Friday at Brick Row, DavidsonNews.net, February 4, 2014, interview
2010
Artist Spotlight: Melissa D. Johnston, The Art Gardner, May 9, 2010
Ten Minutes with Visual Poet Melissa Johnston, Ennyman’s Territory, February 24, 2010, interview