
2024, 17'x4'x2",Firing Process: Electric, Low-fire, Mid-range
Slipcast porcelain and white earthenware

2022, 48″x72″x3″
In Patterns of Seeing I’ve chosen to imagine a multi-course meal in which each dish is primarily sourced from plants and trees within one block of Denver, CO that houses my home, vegetable garden and my studio.

2017, 4″x15’x9′
Generally fruit is fragile and tastes best when consumed quickly. However, the apples I find in in the store in Colorado are the same that I find in almost any grocery store in the country; they are uniform, taste the same and arrive from thousands of miles away. During this exhibit I staged conversations with participants about apples and the global shipping of fruit while we all made apples from clay and gradually my installation filled with handmade clay apples.

2011, 12'x50'x4"
To Dust She Returns consists of a porcelain and feather re-creation of a flowery wallpaper design as a formal and theatrical installation. The inherent disorder and labor of everyday life are components of this installation and threaten the veneer of order and propriety. At regular intervals a well-dressed female performer removes a flower/duster from the wall to dust the installation.
Artist Statement
Bio
Born in Ethiopia in 1966, Tsehai Johnson received a Bachelor of Arts degree in art history from Reed College in 1989, a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in ceramics from Massachusetts College of Art in 1993, and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Colorado in 1999. Exhibitions include the Milwaukee Art Museum (Wisconsin), Plus Gallery (Colorado), Denver Art Museum (Colorado), Biennale Internationale de Vallauris, Magnelli Museum (France), White Columns (New York City, NY), Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (Colorado), and the World Ceramic Biennale (Korea). Collections include the Museum of Ceramics (New York), Museum of Outdoor Arts (Colorado), and the Reyzjanesbaer Art Museum, (Iceland). She is the recipient of a Colorado Council of the Arts Fellowship and residencies in Germany, Spain, Iceland, The Netherlands and multiple locations in the United States. In 2013 Johnson completed an Art in Architecture Commission for the Byron Rogers Federal Building in Denver, CO