About

Artist Statement

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.

Exhibitions And Awards

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

Commissions and Print Media

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

Bibliography

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