Bruce Johnson

BRUCE JOHNSON     

​

1948 - 2023

 

"Sculptor Bruce Johnson grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and studied art at the University of California, Davis in the 60's. For the last 40 plus years, his prolific studio was a large barn and a meadow in rural Sonoma County, overlooking the Pacific. Despite his rural location Johnson found international recognition with large- scale sculpture in Italy, Spain and Taiwan and many private and public collections in the U.S.A.

 

Johnson oftened worked with massive pieces of salvaged redwood, embellished with copper details. He described his work as a cross between Shinto shrines and Stonehenge. From Stonehenge comes the primal sense of scale, mass and physical presence of his work, and from Shinto Shrines the elegant craft and exquisite detail of sacred architecture — including his innovative use of copper as scales to cap end grain and direct water, or to create copper boulders. Every copper or wood surface has a unique and deliberate texture.

​

Johnson was not only a sculptor but a master builder as well. He designed and built unique buildings, gardens, doors, gates, lanterns, playgrounds, fountains, grave markers, stage sets and furniture. Of particular importance to him was his work on sacred buildings such as the Sea Ranch Chapel, the historic chapel at Fort Ross, a Moon Gate and Peace Bell at the Asian Art Museum and especially the exquisitely beautiful "Poetry House."

 

Bruce Johnson died in a studio accident in March, 2023 at the age of 75. His art, like the ancient redwood most of it was made of...lives on."

​

-Form&Energy- Kendra Katz & Tori Johnson