RANGELEY — Rangeley Friends of the Arts hosted an opening reception for local artist Sonja Johnson on July 19 at its Lakeside Contemporary Art Gallery for a show that lasts until August 13 and is titled, “When One Door Closes, A Window Opens”.

As an artist, leaving Rangeley Lakes Regional School, where Johnson taught art for the last 32 years, meant she was finally able to devote more time to her various projects.

“I was retiring,” said Johnson. “So, I really kind of pushed a lot of painting in this past year to try to get to a place where I feel like I was really excited to accomplish.”

Her expertise is evident in the various ways she chooses to communicate her vision. Sometimes using resin, sometimes printmaking, illustration, painting, and sometimes through photography.

Learning new techniques and experimenting with new media is an ongoing journey and she has no limitations.

Sonja Johnson’s opening reception at RFA’s Lakeside Contemporary Art Gallery, held on July 19, 2024.

Working on both small and large scale, her latest show reflects her various draws of attention and shows her focus is never static, but dances around to follow her chosen passions of the season, with specific locations of study and brief moments in time, as well as repeated visits to favorite locations.

Titles of her works include “Rangeley Lake Swim”, “Outside the Cabin Window” and “Compost Pile”.

“They are varied media, but it kind of shows how I’m playful and try different things, but it really has a common thread like whether its color or line or shape. It’s very fluid,” she explained.

Work by artist Sonja Johnson

A large expansive painting of Toothaker Island with high contrasts of golds and reds against a palette of grays and greens sits on one wall while across the hall four smaller photos draw the viewer in, up close.

“It’s kind of like zooming in and zooming out on one small on the island and then you turn around and you’ve zoomed in on the place and things that are happening there. But then I use my camera to record that, because that’s what I do in that moment. When I’m in that spot.”

In this way Johnson gives you the perspective of the mind of an artist and the wandering attention that then settles and focuses in a cyclical manner.

Opening reception attendee for Sonja Johnson’s show, “When One Door Closes, A Window Opens”

“It’s all kind of just a further investigation of something that I saw in that location or connection I had to that location,” she continues.  “You know, the playfulness that keeps my creativity alive, but it’s really connected to the places. So, there’s one section, it’s kind of about Key West and about water and swimming. Then there’s one that’s really kind of about that red hot sunset feel.”

Then there is another that is about nature and specifically hiking on Bald Mountain.

“It’s very bright and bold,” said Johnson, continuing to describe the exhibit. “It’s a whole section of bright pinks and purples and reds and then it goes into oranges and yellows, and you go around the corner, and you’ll feel like you’re in the water. It’s all blues and those neon greens that come around the corner here and cyan blue like denims and a summer day hiking.”

Sonja Johnson among friends and family at the opening reception of her show.

Johnson surmised, “If you’re a painter, you’ll enjoy it on that level.”

For many parents and students in the Rangeley area, the news of Johnson’s retirement was hard to swallow, but Johnson focuses on the more positive aspect of the next chapter in her life.

Johnson, “I think people were feeling a little bit of sadness around my retirement and my connections with their children, and people in teaching, but you know, as the title says, you know, if that door is closed, windows are opening for me. And all this fresh air is coming in and all this imagery and it’s allowing me to reach out, in a different way.”

In her own words, Johnson’s Artist Statement:

My vision for this exhibition was to create a body of work which originates from a singular image. There are four anchor paintings grouped together with eight to twelve accompanying works in a variety of media… the group of smaller works illuminates my journey as an artist toward that singular larger image.

The anchor painting deeply resonates with a place and speaks to a moment and time of day; it translates my intimate knowledge of the visual power of these places, and the colors and rhythms that can only be found in that one location and at that specific time of year. The depth and excitement from the creation of that one image and resulting spill over into other media and imagery that reflect the anchor work but are powerfully connected because of color or composition, depth of line or iconography.

The groupings may at first seem unrelated, but they have a continuity… it’s all about being deeply present and connected to that place. Each of the groupings is about my response to powerful places that percolate with personality and have been gravitational anchors throughout my life. These places inspire me to make marks, and whether it be with paintbrush or stylus, these marks flow from my fingertips and onto the new surface and are viscerally part of my experience.

The need to share is powerful. This body of work is from the past three years. The one or two pieces from a previous body of work are included to demonstrate my journey – my growth. I want to keep growing as the environment around me and I age together. I have continually challenged myself with new media and the ways of utilizing and presenting that media.

My artist’s journey to this moment is demonstrated as you will see older prints and photos give birth to new ideas and stories. They are torn up, painted over and drawn into to realize new thoughts and ideas. These new substrates are then reimagined into new work, because my connections are new. I think that as you wander through this body of work you will see that my vision is always curious and evolving because I remain intimately connected to these everchanging places.