ARTIST STATEMENT
"Growth was, is, and will always be at the tip of my fingertips. It is my highest honor to broker peace through art into the communities where I work, serve, and create."
-Johanna
For studio tours, purchase inquiries & gallery partnerships, please contact johanna@johannaadkins.com.
My art is the voice of my inner woman as she traverses her interior life. It is sacred space where the hidden comes to light as I express what it is for me to be in communion with the Holy Spirit, myself and fellow man. It is an intersection between my Creator and my body, soul and spirit. It is an inner laboratory. In its truest incarnation, my art awakens hidden hearts and provokes reflection. I offer it as a quiet moment, a safe space for conversation, a peaceful place where ideas are challenged. My art is an invitation.
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When I resumed creating in my late 20’s, I was perplexed by the number of dark edges and fragmentation my art contained and that challenged the notions I held of myself. At the same time, I was struck by the revelatory images and symbols that emerged almost directing me like a map into my heart and mind, connecting the dots of my story. As I painted, I was guided through a wellspring of repressed pain. Getting in touch with what I was going through deep inside was a huge part of my healing journey. A journey that would ultimately lead me to embrace my truest design as a woman intended to thrive amidst beauty, abundance and vast resources; an artist made to see and reveal; and a worshipper patterned after Eve for unbroken communion with her Creator in the garden.
During 2020, as the world experienced a collective SELAH because of Covid-19, my personal revelation was that art is an integral part of who I am and how I choose to share myself with others.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Johanna’s early years were spent on beaches in Boca Raton, Florida. She has fond memories of napping on a large colorful towel in the sand under an umbrella, looking up at the clouds where she would call out cloud shapes. Later in childhood it would be road trips to the New Mexico desert from Austin to Santa Fe, she nostalgically recalls looking out the windows and escaping into the clouds. Happy places were exploring the ocean, discovering its vibrant colored fish and coral reefs, seashell hunting along white sands where the tide rolls in and wandering through the diverse eclecticism of Albuquerque flea markets.
She has been painting since she was a child and won her first art show in 3rd grade. She loved experimenting with ceramics in middle school and dabbled with photography in college. It wasn’t until her 20’s that she began painting again.
Her art has been featured at events such as: East Austin Studio Tour in Austin, TX; Different Strokes in Austin, TX; Can You See Me, Can You Hear Me in Austin, TX; ARTober in Fort Worth, TX; a Lisa Butler Fine Arts Exhibition in Marble Falls, TX; and Cultivate Your Sky in Horseshoe Bay, TX.
You can find her imprint as Chief Creative Officer on the creation of and launch for the Beloved Gallery, a world-class art gallery displaying the early works of former Child Prodigy and current Master Artist, Akiane Kramarik; Producer and Production Designer on the exclusive short film, Akiane: A Portrait of The Artist, for Beloved Gallery’s inaugural exhibition, Akiane: The Early Years; and Production Designer on the short film, Complicit, about the US sex trade that received a UT Documentary Center Grant and garnered a nomination for the Princess Grace Award in 2009.
As a natural curator, Johanna’s artistic capabilities are wide reaching. She has served as the creative force behind a mélange of visual and digital ventures spanning areas such as an art gallery launch; art exhibition production; community art event development & production; “go to market” campaigns; product design & development; creative workshop development & implementation; and pop-up shop concept development & activation. Previous projects include but are not limited to SXSW Style By, Beloved Gallery, Imagine Art, Noonday Collection, Comb Collective, Trade In Hope LLC and ZIVA31.
UNIQUE HIGHLIGHTS
Johanna received the privilege of serving, shaping, and launching Lewis and Kirsten Cirne’s vision of constructing an exquisite space to showcase Master Artist, Akiane Kramarik’s original Prince of Peace painting, making it available for millions of people from all around the world to visit and experience the work of art and the Artist's epic story free of charge. The result of that labor of love grew into something much larger, and thus Beloved Gallery was born.
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During her time launching the Beloved Gallery, she enjoyed experiencing the partnership, and shared trust between she, Akiane Kramarik, and the Kramarik family. Developing the exhibit, Akiane: The Early Years, included the regular management of collaborations between her creative team and team Akiane. While serving as the gatekeeper to Akiane’s story, as she directed her creative team through the exhibit design process, she determined to remain integrous to the Artist’s unique message and personhood by aligning Beloved Gallery’s output to this intent. Though an extremely detailed process, it proved to pay off in the end evidenced by the sheer bliss captured on Akiane’s face and the heartfelt verbal appreciation for Johanna's efforts at the gallery’s opening ceremony.
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As an avid promoter of culture and the arts, Johanna has partnered to produce events such as Artbulb Austin; a monthly community event created to showcase local artists and entrepreneurs and spin up the buzz around emerging talent; Austin Meet Argentina, a promotional event to introduce the culture of Argentina to Austin through art, fashion, design, dance, wine, and cuisine; and Different Strokes, an art show featuring 10+ emerging local Austin artists.
In 2007, she was selected as a speaker on creativity in the Holy Spirit for an international conference held in Paderborn, Germany to empower professional women in the areas of character, competence, and creativity.
She holds the honor of presenting commissioned art as a gift from the City of Austin to the First Lady of Uganda, Janet Museveni, at the 2006 Nation Transformation Global Summit held Mar del Plata, Argentina.