Mr Paul Johnson

Paul Johnson is an artist and practice-led researcher whose work examines how objects and images transition historically, mentally, and physically when reconfigured through the artist’s hand. Drawing on sources from everyday culture to archival material, Johnson constructs small, labour‑intensive sculptures and collages alongside large-scale installations that prompt imaginative associations for the viewer to decode. Notions of the outsider, ritual, and belief systems often provide points of entry, shaping the interpretive frameworks of the work.

Current research investigates material culture and ecological time through a body of sculptural work centred on plastiglomegates—hybrid forms assembled from discarded plastics. Positioned within the discourse of Deep Time, these works explore how rapidly produced, short‑lived materials persist as “future fossils” within the Earth’s geological record. Johnson’s methodology combines field collection, material reconfiguration, and studio-based experimentation to create layered artefacts that mirror geological stratification. The research contributes to debates on the Anthropocene, environmental humanities, and the visualisation of ecological change by reframing plastic debris as both artistic medium and geological indicator.

Over the past decade, Johnson’s practice has grown from meticulous paper collages into immersive, large‑scale environments. A notable solo exhibition at Camden Arts Centre (2017) dismantled and reconstructed his studio to reconsider it as a sculptural object and visionary environment, extending his inquiry into how spaces, tools, and processes acquire symbolic and material histories.

Johnson (b. 1972) lives and works in London. He studied at Glasgow School of Art and Royal Academy Schools, and has presented solo exhibitions at Camden Arts Centre (2017), Focal Point Gallery, Southend (2015), The Collection Museum, Lincoln (2013–2014), Frieze Art Fair, London (2011), Armory Art Fair, New York (2010), and Mizuma Gallery, Tokyo (2008). Selected group exhibitions include Marshall House, Iceland (2019), Marfa Ballroom, Texas (2018), Andreas Huber, Vienna (2016), Saatchi Gallery, London (2010), CAPC, Bordeaux (2010), Tokyo Opera City Art Gallery (2013), and Kunstbunker, Nuremberg (2008).

He is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University of Hertfordshire.