Meet Whitney Johnson-Lessard

We recently connected with Whitney Johnson-lessard and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Whitney, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

Right now I’m a working artist and a professor, and I teach drawing and painting. This gives me feelings of hope and purpose. It’s a powerful thing to share the vision and skills of translating what you observe (light, color, shadows, reflections, distance…) through a material. I remember my first Painting I class so well, and the process of learning how to see color observationally. My everyday life of just looking and noticing changed after this – color was it. I get to see so many “aha!” moments when people realize they have the capacity to draw or paint observationally, and to really just be able to connect their hand to their eye. I have the pleasure to see students find themselves deeply connected to their surroundings, in a physiological way. What is better than to witness the world being appreciated for its existence?

I’m also very lucky that I was always encouraged to do what I felt compelled to do. My parents signed me up for classes at an art camp when I was young called “Art and Science in the Woods.” You could do things like take a class in fossil hunting, which meant walking in creek beds with an expert on fossils. That really shaped my life and worldview.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m a visual artist and work in multiple disciplines – painting and participatory work. Through painting I explore the potentials of alternative material. I find comfort in experimenting with provisional materials like scrap fabric to make handmade paper to paint on, and pigments ground from the realms of kitchen scraps and industrial sites. Through participatory work, I like to create spaces that encourage others to take part in engaging with the more-than-human world. Forming relationships with plants and animals has always grounded me, and inviting others into that space is one way I can imagine a future in this time of environmental devastation.

I have a new series of paintings coming together in the studio that I’m pretty excited about. They’re inspired by dreams, and ‘backpacks’ in video-games.

There’s another project I’m currently working on that explores vision outside of the human spectrum, and is inspired by Star Trek.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

It think it just comes around to the many people who inspire us by doing what they’re passionate about, have encouraged us in being curious, or have given opportunities to share or grow. It’s a process of always learning and being open, and working to give those things back to others.

Awesome, really appreciate you opening up with us today and before we close maybe you can share a book recommendation with us. Has there been a book that’s been impactful in your growth and development?

here are some books I love!

Ways of Being by James Bridle

Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer

ECODEVIANCE by CAConrad

Pleasure Activism by adrienne marie brown

The Mushroom at the End of the World by Anna Tsing

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.whitneyjohnson-lessard.com
• Instagram: whitneyjohnsonlessard