About the Work
Freud says: ‘houses in dreams represent the mind’ and ‘flying represents ambition’. If these theories are true then my frequent dreams of flying over houses must represent a kind of cerebral ambition.

In fact houses strike me as symbolic of the body as much as they do the mind. There are similarities between the way one inhabits, or dwells within a body, as one does a house. Both bear the signs and attributes of one’s identity and a home can sometimes present as an alternative kind of portrait.

Being a painter involves a constant challenge of knowing what to paint, what to communicate visually to the world. Abstraction poses further challenges, while conversely allowing freedoms that non-abstraction potentially disallows. While urban landscape, colour and architecture have been constant themes in my work, more recently I find the lens shifting focus to the idea of place and types of dwelling, and to reflecting visually the many and often evocative spaces held within, and their role as mise-en-scène to daily life.

Johanna’s work is featured on several online gallery platforms:
Art Gazette
Rise Art
Saatchi Art.

For artwork enquiries please email Jo at : johanna_melvin@hotmail.com

News & exhibitions

2024