PICTURESWITHIN

​Growing up in the artificial urban paradise of Miami FL, I felt very detached from nature.  A longing to experience wild places was a deep desire most of my adult life. In 2019 that became my reality when I relocated to the Pacific Northwest. During the covid years I found solace and freedom to breath during escapes into nature. My artwork evolved to reflect spiritual experiences discovered in the wilderness of the Cascade Mountains. The roar of a waterfall, the sway of towering evergreens in the wind and miniature chaos found on decomposing nurse logs became imprinted upon my subconscious and then translated into subtle layers of meaning. As I reflect upon the transitory nature of life my emotional state drives my artistic journey forward.

 

My current work is public art and analog and digital mixed-media assemblage inspired by natural cycles of creation and destruction. Recycled, salvaged and found objects that are no longer deemed useful to their owners are disassembled and re-born as artworks. I reclaim these discards and enter a process where they are re-paired in the present tense as objects of joy and contemplation.The process of hand-sewing with a needle connects me with the objects’ previous owners and a long legacy of human ancestors who understood that nature never wastes anything. My world-view is one that respects organic processes, intuition and collaboration, celebration of diversity and holistic connections. My artwork holds a mirror to those values.

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ARTIST BIO​

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Born and raised in Miami, FL, Johanna Porter is a self-taught digital artist. Her career includes three decades working as a graphic artist, illustrator and art director. In 2019 she moved her studio, PICTURESWITHIN, from South Florida to the Pacific Northwest. She now creates art that is inspired by the cycles of nature. Her digital and mixed-media assemblages have been exhibited nationally in group shows and published in contemporary art journals. Johanna has received public art commissions for temporary installations, including animated short film collaborations, in Washington state and Arizona. In 2023 Johanna Porter was added to the 2023-2025 ArtsWA Public Artist Roster. In 2024 she was added to the City of Seattle Public Artist Roster for 2024-2026. Three of her artworks were aquired in 2024 for the City of Seattle, Office of Arts and Culture Portable Artworks Collection.

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ARTIST CV​

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PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS

2023

Together Center, public art for social services community center, Redmond WA

 

City of Fife Public Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Fife WA 

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City of Renton Municipal Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Renton WA
 

Fountain Hills Cultural & Civic Assoc., digital public art mural, Pump House Pilot Program, Fountain Hills, AZ

 

2022

City of Redmond, Arts and Culture, public art commission for animated short film,  Redmond Downtown Park Buoyant Theater, Redmond WA 

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2021

City of Redmond, Arts and Culture, public art commission for animated short film, Redmond WA

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City of Kent Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Kent WA

 

2019

City of Issaquah Arts Commission, public art installation- utility box vinyl wrap, Issaquah WA

 

PUBLIC ART ACTIVATIONS

2024​

Amazon Summer Activation Stair Murals, Urban ArtWorks team, Amazon campus, Seattle WA

 

Duvall Sandblast Sand Sculpture Activation, Duvall Foundation for the Arts, Duvall WA

 

Google Kirkland Urban Pride Activation Stair Mural with Urban ArtWorks team, Google campus, Kirkland WA

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2022

Building Blocks of Community, Seattle Design Festival, Center on Contemporary Art installation collaborator, 

South Lake Union Park, Seattle WA

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The Language of Flowers, Duvall Days Festival temporary public art installation , Duvall WA

 

2020

Embracing Our Differences, international group art billboard exhibit, Bayfront Park, Sarasota FL

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HONORS + AWARDS

2024

Seattle Office of Arts and Culture, Seattle City Light 1% Portable Works Collection purchase awards, Seattle WA

 

City of Seattle Public Art Artist Roster for 2024-2026, Seattle WA 

 

City of Kent Public Art Panelist, selection of pubic art awards, Kent WA 

 

2023

ArtsWA 2023-2025 Public Artist Roster, Olympia WA 

 

Kent 2024 Centennial Center Gallery Exhibit Award, City of Kent Cultural Programs, Kent WA 

 

2022

Artists Up! Mentorship Scholarship, awarded by 4Culture, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, and Arts, Seattle WA 

 

IPPY Silver Award, for self-published poetry and art book “TNTRK”, awarded by Independent Publisher Book Awards 

 

2021

Public Art Intensive Eastside Cohort, selected by the City of Redmond Arts and Culture Commission, Redmond WA 

 

2019

Roslyn Art Festival, Second Place Award, Roslyn WA 

 

SOLO AND TWO-PERSON EXHIBITIONS

2025

New Fiber Arts Exhibition, two-artist fiber art exhibit, Magnuson Park (SPACE) Gallery, Seattle WA

 

2024

Centennial Center Gallery Award Exhibition, City Hall, Kent WA

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Two-Artist Exhibition, invitational two-person exhibit, Art Gallery at Lynwood City Hall, Lynwood WA 

 

2023

Transitory Nature, Thomas Architecture Studios, Olympia WA​

 

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2025

Fresh Perspectives 2024 Purchase Award Exhibition, curated group exhibit, King Street Station Gallery, Seattle WA

 

2024

Northwest Folklife Gallery Walk, curated art exhibit for NW Folklife Festival, Seattle Center, Seattle WA

 

Art as Healing, screening of animated short film “The Light of Things”, Bothell City Hall, Bothell WA

 

Threshold of Wonder, curated group exhibit, Artma pop-up exhibition, Marketplace at Factoria, Factoria WA 

 

2023

Newcastle Area Fall Art Exhibition, curated group exhibit, Newcastle Arts Council/Newcastle Library, Seattle WA

 

Re-Imagined, curated members’ group exhibit, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle WA

 

2023 Kent Summer Art Exhibit, regional juried group exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery, Kent WA

 

Artful Stories & Community Narratives, curated group exhibit, Sammamish Commons Gallery, Sammamish WA 

 

2022

Pluralism, curated members’ group exhibit, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle WA

 

For the Voices of Women, curated group exhibit, Studio 103, Seattle WA 

 

Calm. Centered. Awake, curated time-based-art group exhibit, Sanctuary Studios, Seattle WA

 

Kent Summer Art Exhibit, regional group exhibit, Centennial Center Gallery, Kent WA

 

Annual Members Show, regional group exhibit, Center on Contemporary Art, Seattle WA

 

Art of the Garden, regional group exhibit, Schack Art Center, Everett WA 

 

FIFTY: An Alumni Exhibition, invitational group exhibit, Museum of Contemporary Art, Jacksonville FL

 

The Art of Water, online group exhibit, TheArtofWater.global

 

2021

Creative and Resilient, national group exhibit, Port Angeles Fine Arts Center, Port Angeles WA

 

Marking Lives Covid-19, international online Covid-19 memorial art group exhibit, ElizabethAwalt.com

 

Fear in Technicolor, regional online group exhibit, The Anxious Tomato, Tacoma WA

 

SchacktoberFest, regional group exhibit, Schack Art Center, Everett WA

 

2021 Shoreline Virtual Juried Art Exhibit, regional online group exhibit, Shoreline Arts Festival, Shoreline WA

 

2020

Windows Into the World, international online group exhibit, Chico Art Center, Chico CA

 

Artists in Their Residence, national online group exhibit, Firehouse Art Center, Longmont CO

 

2019

Cover These Walls, national building wrap group exhibit, Palos Verdes Art Center, Rancho Palos Verdes CA

 

Memories, national group exhibit, 2019 Roslyn Art Festival, Roslyn WA

 

Combined Talents, national group exhibit, FSU Museum of Fine Arts, Tallahassee FL

 

Pinnacle National Juried Art Competition, national group exhibit, Foster-Tanner Fine Arts Gallery, Tallahassee FL

 

2018 Social Code, regional group exhibit, Delray Arts Warehouse, Delray Beach FL

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SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

2024

Clamor!- UW Bothell art and literature journal

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2023

Jolt- the journal of Olympia, Tumwater & Lacey, February 4, 2023

https://www.thejoltnews.com/stories/johanna-porters-transitory-nature,9185

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2019

Peripheral Arteries Contemporary Art Review- Biennial, Summer/volume 50

https://issuu.com/artpress/docs/biennial.edition.vi

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​EDUCATION

1985

Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design, University of North Florida

 

1978

Associate of Arts, Fine Art, Miami-Dade College, Miami FL

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