Merritt Johnson

Merritt Johnson is an American artist focusing on Mohawk, Blackfoot, and North American settler heritage.

Johnson was born in Baltimore, Maryland. She is a descendant of the Kanienkehaka people (Mohawk), the Blackfoot people, and North American settlers.

Her love for art began when she was very young when she discovered a book with Picasso's paintings. She became captivated by her inability to explain what the pieces of art meant or why they made sense. Regardless of her recent exposure to art and her lack of knowledge on it, she knew that she wanted to pursue it.

She received a Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University and a Master's in Fine Arts from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

She draws upon her indigenous heritage to illuminate her perspective and experiences.

Her themes include engagement of the past, the present, the future, the connection space and body, and the bridge between her culture and land. The connection between culture and land is deeply embedded in her heritage.

Art is often left open for interpretation, which enchanted Johnson. She claims that her art is viewed differently by Indigenous and non-Indigenous viewers because of their lack of knowledge and understanding of Indigenous terms, culture, and land. She uses traditional materials to create emphasis on problems that have had a long history.

Fetish(object/object/object)

Fetish explores the objectification of the female body. It is a woven basket shaped like a woman's breasts made of palm fibers, buffalo fur, and faux teeth to copy the most "fetishized" part of the female's body. The point of leaving out the rest of the body was to embody women's reduction to mere objects. In her description, she adds "simplified, feared, erased, and abused through misguided desire for control and ownership" to the definition of fetishization. The tile holds the word object three times, each connoting one meaning given to the word: "material form", "something or someone at whom something is directed", and "disagreement". "Disagreement" was the most important to Johnson considering people's diverse opinions about women's bodies. This artwork, counters injustice in society, in this case, relating to womanhood and indigeneity.

Creation with her children

Creation was a collaboration between Johnson and Nickolas Galanin. It depicts a woman, Creation, carving her own face because she possesses the power to do so. The woman believes she must create herself to avoid others telling her who or what she is. Although neither artist confirmed this, the artwork was supposed to be a nod towards the forced assimilation of indigenous peoples beginning in the 17th century. Other artists pointed Creation's clothing. They resembled garments from 17th century Europe. The first colonizers tried to convert Native Americans to their way of life. They had no real option but to accept. Laws restricted Natives from practicing their traditional way of life.

Clouds Live Where

Clouds Live Where was a performance in which Johnson wanted to show the connection between people and land. She wore moccasins, a “man's” coat with a fox hide underneath that covered her features. She was described as some type of hybrid, undercover agent. The border in her performance was rigid; she showed hybridity by her constant motion and maneuverability. Johnson was able to stand outside the border, within the border, and on top of the border without letting the physical border obstruct her and without having to tamper with or change it. This allowed the audience to consider factors in their own lives while reflecting their own obstructions.

Sky Dome

Sky Dome references the traditional Iroquois belief about the dome that encapsulates the Earth. Johnson says she was thinking about animals; how birds' freedom differs from ours, how bears are so different yet they can walk on two feet and how we think of them as dangerous and hunt them. She says the relationship between animals and land is indigenous in itself, that animals are selfless beings compared to humans. The purpose of Sky Dome was to have the animals switch roles with humans and yet remain animals. The gallery had to be seen in order to understand Sky Dome in its entirety. For example, in some pieces red lines served a purpose whereas in others the red lines were man-made obstructions and animals were tearing through them or repairing them. She carefully commented on the boundaries we set as humans and the boundaries nature sets on its own.

Injured Turkey Protects the Sky

Injured Turkey Protects the Sky was one part of Johnson’s Sky Dome gallery. In the painting a tear is seen in the fabric of the dome. The turkey spreads its wings beneath the tear protecting everything below. The construction materials lay waiting to be picked up by the rabbit and coyote, bear, crow, raven, and turkey so that repairs can begin.

Johnson's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL
• Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, Santa Fe, NM
• Museum of Arts and Design, Manhattan, NY
• Museum of Anthropology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia
• Denver Art Museum, Denver, CO
• Intersections Digital Studios, Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, British Columbia
• Metropolitan State University of Denver, Center for Visual Art, Denver, CO
• Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO

Solo

• Merritt Johnson: Exorcising America- 2018 (Salt Lake City, Utah, USA) - Johnson uses a model to illustrate the struggles Indigenous people have faced and the love and devotion to their land.

Group

• Monarchs: Brown and Native Contemporary Artists in the Path of the Butterfly- 2019 (Overland Park, Kansas, USA) - Represents the challenges Natives have faced regarding forced assimilation, oppression, and outright unfairness. Butterfly represents the generations that have endured everything while living on their native land.
• New Acquisitions: 2011–2017- 2018 (Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA) - Accentuates the newly acquired work over the past six years from IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA).
• Connective Tissue: New Approaches to Fiber in Contemporary Native Art- 2017 (Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA) - Native American artists who use various forms of fiber art media or methods to attain the vision they had in their head. The artists had similar styles but different core beliefs or themes. Fiber art is engaging because of its connection to gender stereotypes, cultural heritage, domesticity, homeliness, and its innovation of traditions.
• Opening Exhibition (Oakland, California, USA) - A collection of different artists that speak upon themes like environment, class, and race in the United States.
• On Being Illiberal- 2018 (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) - Brought together three different artists that proposed the idea for an Indigenous-led future.