In Search of the Frightening and Beautiful
began in 2013 when Heather L. Johnson rode a motorcycle alone from her former home in New Jersey to Joshua Tree, CA and back, leaving artworks in the landscape for others to encounter and keep. She rode over 40,000 miles throughout the United States, Mexico, Central and South America, leaving 47 works behind or in the hands of strangers met along the way.
Through this project, Heather sought to broaden understanding between individuals and cultures. She crossed geographic and cultural boundaries, leaving behind intimate, hand-made objects in her wake to change hands, context and meaning. Conceived aboard a motorcycle, the project embraced risk and vulnerability to record and testify to the coincidences, contradictions and struggles that reveal the essence of human experience. While traveling, Johnson took photographs and wrote of her experiences, which were distilled into new publications and artworks. Work stemming from the project was featured in 7 exhibitions, including solo shows at Cherryhurst House (Houston) and CalPoly University (San Luis Obispo, CA), and a limited edition In Search of the Frightening & Beautiful book was published.
For previous press coverage of In Search of the Frightening and Beautiful, click here.
ISFB4
Prior to the Covid pandemic, Heather spent two years planning a fourth leg of ISFB. This leg entailed venturing to places with economies dependent upon waning or unsustainable industries, giving hand-stitched artworks to people met on the road – embroidered versions of testimonials written or told by people in her current home of Houston – in exchange for new stories and ideas to share with others. The purpose was to create bridges between people of different backgrounds, identities and ideas - metaphorical ties that underscore our shared humanity, in a time marked by social division.
Personal situations arose, including the death of Heather’s mother - followed by Covid - which put the project on hold indefinitely. She has since shifted focus toward her adopted home town of Houston, walking around neighborhoods or across the city, observing details and events in the landscape that are generally missed by passing cars (and motorcyclists). For now, she is making artwork in response to “micro-travels” in Houston and beyond, taking inspiration from tensions between natural forces and the built environment, paying homage to nature’s tenaciousness in the face of our efforts to contain and exploit it.
Read more about her current work here.