Craft Victoria and búl are pleased to present Cara Johnson at búl Emporium.

‘Through my practice I am working to highlight the fragility and preciousness of nature while concurrently reflecting upon the heavy handedness of human impact. Agricultural and mining practices evidenced within the landscape are what initially interest me, marking the beginning of an exploration, but it is the gentle unfolding of nature that keeps me invested. Currently I am exploring how things i make allude to function connected to the landscape, while also narrating correspondences between material and place.’

- Cara Johnson

Presented at búl Emporium, the collection of works installed, made from paper and paper pulp, rest somewhere in between the hard lines of human presence and the softening of going back to nature. The making process evolved through an ongoing lament on the source of paper.

Cara Johnson completed her honours (first class) gold and silversmithing, within a bachelor of fine art at RMIT university in 2016 where she received the honours travelling scholarship. Recently she was selected as a finalist in the Mari Funaki award for contemporary jewellery and the broken hill outback art prize.

Her practice is concerned with articulating the fragility and preciousness in nature, while concurrently addressing the presence of human impact on the landscape. Cara resides in the Otways, in Victoria’s southwest, and is current master of fine art research candidate at RMIT, where she is researching the role that the handcrafted object has in assigning value to nature, and narratives that connect material and place.

Photography by Robert Ashton