Salutations. Dogs. Handshakes. Strain. Puppets. Billboards. Symbols. Text. Random. Related. Fragments of life connect in unlikely and atypical ways in Aron Johnston’s artwork. Johnston weaves images together that do not usually or readily correspond. These visual and textual cues guide the viewer’s emotions and function as a formal and stylistic anchor. Many of these images draw inspiration from billboard signs and popular culture. For example, in his reinterpretation of Boticelli’s Birth of Venus, Johnston uses the Shell gas station icon to represent the shell from which the goddess emerges. He also employs text taken from old and worn-down signs found on roadsides, recreating its dilapidated appearance but connecting it to new images. By borrowing figures from the past and placing them in a present context, Johnston engages the viewer in his own reconsideration of images seen everyday. The artwork forces the viewer to notice and rethink symbols that he/she passes obliviously on a daily basis.

In the three dimensional rectangular structure Hello, Johnston explores different methods of greeting by juxtaposing text and images. On one side he has painted the word “Hello” in large letters. He includes a video playing on the perpendicular side panels that shows a variety of hand gestures between two people, such as handshakes and high-fives. The side opposite the text contains a number of dogs sniffing each other. Johnston has taken the many different ways to say hello out of their original context so the viewer can compare them and extract their own associations from the work. At the same time, he has humorously drawn a parallel between the physical greeting rituals of dogs and humans. Furthermore, the width of the structure represents the comfort distance between two people who have just met. In this way, Johnston allows the viewer to greet the artwork in her own manner.

Underneath the outline of the word “Hello,” Johnston places lines that at first glance appear purely formal. When carefully considered, these lines, however, connect to form other words such as “Hey” and “How Are You.” The layered text, as Johnston calls it, adds to the many variations of greeting in the piece. He first became interested in hidden phrases and words when he photographed an old sign on Manor Road. The text read “Come and Get It.” Upon further examination of the picture, Johnston found that beneath these art nouveau letters existed another phrase, “Café”. Like this sign, he hides text within his paintings that in turn forces the viewer to take a closer look. The layers expand the meanings and associations that the viewer can draw from each work.

Johnston uses the idea of unlikely relationships supported by layered text in his most recent painting Strain. At the bottom of the work, he paints the word “Strain” on top of other terms such as “Pressure” and “Worry.” In this way, he guides the viewer to make connections based on the original word. At the top of the painting, he has included a puppet held by strings, adding an emotional value to the text. Perhaps the viewer feels like a puppet when experiencing tension and strain. Johnston combines text and image in a way that a viewer does not typically consider. This expands the viewer’s understanding of the variety of ways to see and interpret symbols that surround her in everyday life.

Figures and phrases function as complimentary entities in Johnston’s artwork. They provide new connections between symbols and offer multiple ways to understand the world. Johnston calls these works “clash paintings,” and he asks the viewer to “read into them” and create additional associations. He has the ability to mold seemingly different ideas into one unified painting, giving the viewer a fresh perspective.