Eric Johnson

At an early age, Eric Johnson was shaped by his father’s mastery in automotive body work to his bravado in pool, archery, marksmanship and even poker. From his father, Eric learned how to use and make tools and achieve a craftsmanship in a wide variety of materials. As a young man, Eric was a promising pitcher and fencer. However, Eric’s life took a dramatic turn when in his early twenties, while on vacation in Hawaii, he fell from a cliff and severely injured his neck. After rehabilitation, Eric eventually returned to making and studying art. Attending Cal Arts and UCIrvine, Eric mentored under significant west coast artists such as Craig Kauffman, Tony DeLap and John Paul Jones. Eric lives with daily physical pain that he finds, is best eased, by making art not alone, but surrounded by friends and artists. Mentoring others in his studio eventually led to the community project “The Maize.” These days Eric is working on a large-scale project and finalizing a six-year body of work dealing with the systems of binary stars and human relationships.