For talented artist, no single media, style will do

After graduating today, Avery Johnson will take her artistic talent, love of communication to UT

For+talented+artist%2C+no+single+media%2C+style+will+do

Emma Baumgardner, staff reporter
May 31, 2018

Senior Avery Johnson’s ceramics piece titled “No Remorse” references the limitation of communication over long distances that occurred during World War I and also the solution of that limitation: Morse code. The piece also depicts an anti-war quote in Morse code. “No Remorse” was on display in the MAC last night at the pre-convocation art show curated by the senior visual arts majors.

Throughout her four years of high school, senior visual arts major Avery Johnson has explored many mediums of art, including drawing, ceramics, photography and jewelry. Of all of the arts classes she has taken, she enjoyed ceramics and drawing the most.

“I’m very mixed about my favorite being drawing or ceramics because they’re very different, and I love both of them a lot,” Johnson said. “My drawing art style is always super dark. Most of my drawings have some sort of gory element. My ceramics style is completely different than that; it’s a lot more happy. My drawings are more focused on my emotions, whereas ceramics is more of things I’m interested in.”

In the past four years her style has developed in many ways.

“Freshman year, most of my pieces were just straight up portraits with no meaning,” Johnson said, “In sophomore year, my portraits and my drawings started to get more and more in-depth.”

As a part of her ceramics class, Johnson had to create a concentration showcasing her artwork with a specific theme.

“My concentration is all about communication and the development of communication” she said. “I’m really fascinated with how language is developed and how we can talk and speak to one another.”

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I’m really fascinated with how language is developed and how we can talk and speak to one another.

— UT-bound senior Avery Johnson

For one of the pieces in her concentration, “Speak,” Johnson won a Scholastic Gold Key National Medal.

“Last year I took American Sign Language at ACC, and instantly I fell in love with the language and the culture behind it. I wanted to focus on the things that seeing and hearing people think that the blind and the deaf can’t do. I wanted to showcase that, ‘Yes, they can do that.’”

In the coming fall, Johnson plans on majoring in advertising at UT Austin.

“I didn’t want to just solely do art” she said. “I wanted to do something to get my foot out of the door because with art it’s really hard to make a living. I thought that advertising would be the best option for me because it’s incorporating things that I really like— psychology and design.”