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Lori Grace Johnson, the third youngest of four children, was born in 1963 in Belleville, Ontario as Lori Grace Nickerson. She was raised primarily in Ontario, moving frequently because her father worked as a Major and Senior Battle Staff Officer for N.O.R.A.D. with the Royal Canadian Air Force for 38 years.

She then moved to St. Margarets, New Brunswick in 1964; to North Bay, Ontario, in 1969; Kapuskasing, Ontario in 1976, Ottawa, Ontario in 1977; and back to North Bay in 1980. In 1981, she moved to London, Ontario to study Interior Design at Fanshawe College. In 1983, she moved to Mississauga and Brampton, Ontario, and returned to North Bay in 1985, where she currently resides. She has a daughter and two stepdaughters with former husband, Matthew Johnson.

In 1989, after a year of Administrative Studies at Nipissing University in North Bay, she moved to Montreal, Quebec, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from McGill University, graduating in 1992. Her study included a concentration in Sculpture Studio and Culture.

In 1992, Lori Grace moved to Ottawa, Ontario and worked as a Secretary and Administrator for several Government Ministries. In 1993, she moved to North Bay, where she worked as an artist, crafter and designer. Since 1994, she has produced silverware jewelry designs under the name, 'Tortured Forks by Grace'. In 1995, she opened a retail gallery in partnership with Nancy Gareh-Coloumbe, called 'Grace & The Great Gecko Art Store'. From 1994 to present, she has been an instructor for many courses involving sculpture and jewelry design. In 2003, she was the Coordinator of White Water Gallery for a one-year term.

She is a founding member of White Mountain Academy of the Arts in Elliot Lake, Ontario. She served on the board of the W. K. P. Kennedy Gallery in North Bay, Ontario, as secretary from 1996 to 2000 and chair from 2000 to 2001. In 2004-2005, she was the liaison (chair) for the 3B Fashion Show at the W. K. P. Kennedy Gallery.

Solo exhibitions of her work include: Three (Joan Ferneyhough Gallery, North Bay, Ontario, 2005), Harmonic Cohesion (White Water Gallery, North Bay, Ontario, 2004), Resonant Samples (Joan Ferneyhough Gallery, 2003 and Art Gallery of Sudbury, Ontario, 2002), Paradise (Joan Ferneyhough Gallery, 2000) and Alter Echo (White Water Gallery, 1999).

Lori Grace curated Sanctuary for Seven, 12 Days of Summer Festival in 2005 in Restoule, Ontario.

She has received the following grants: Individual Visual Arts Grant (2001, Ontario Arts Council), Exhibition Assistance Grant (1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, Ontario Arts Council).

Lori-Grace's works are in numerous private collections.

She has been represented by Joan Ferneyhough Gallery in North Bay since 2001.

(The biographical information featured here was written in consultation with the artist in 2006.)

Interview:

Lori Grace Johnson says she never questioned her identity as an artist. She remembers being five years old and fixing a toy after disassembling it, feeling the importance of resolving a problem. By 12 years of age, she felt that she had developed a creative practice.

She describes her current work as resulting from a "multi-leveled process...My manner is to use materials and media that lend themselves to a sculptural form. My ideas and designs exist long before I approach the materials, and I execute technique and process mentally for a long period of time that involves research, sketches, and conceptualization. Execution of these concepts at this point is the fabrication of a rudimentary mold, a basic positive shape.... At this point you have a multi-dimensional mold ready for casting in plaster, hydrostone, hydrocal or otherwise. Once the cement material has been poured, hardened and removed from the overall mold, it is cleaned, brushed, shaved and further sculpted utilizing a whole set of other basic sculpting tools. At this point the piece is dried and then colour application can begin. Colour application involves a first layer of ceramic staining, a second layer of coloured-wax polishes, [and is] then finalized by burnishing and further buffing. Certain pieces are then plained to create a surface to apply a liquid photo emulsion transfer (liquid light). Then...details of black and white negatives taken of random objects [are] expose[d] onto the pained surface and area of imagery. This involves the same procedure as developing a black and white photograph. Each sculptural piece is mounted onto...wood stone or steel."

Johnson also creates jewelry. When asked if there are parallels to the creative process for jewelry and sculpture, she says "Yes absolutely. My application of design and three-dimensional imagery is aimed at a succinct and sensible organic structure. It alludes to the ornate, and primitive architecture and artifact, [and is] therefore iconographic."

Over time, her work has become more technically involved. "Improvements have been made through experience and knowledge about materials and methods," she says. "Otherwise, the bent to create hasn't changed."

(By Heather Saunders, based on an interview in January, 2007).

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Lori Grace Johnson
2006

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Lori Grace Johnson, Tenor (detail), hydrocal, steel, and liquid light
2004

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Lori Grace Johnson featured in White Water Galley newsletter
2004