* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Mary Ellen Johnson is a realist oil painter best known for her paintings of food.
Johnson is intrigued by how the brain triggers hunger and likes the associations food is charged with nostalgia, comfort, and tradition, as well as imagery that is mundane and elevating it to art. She believes the manner and style of the work is driven by the imagery.
Throughout history, many artists have focused on food. But in typically modern delicacies, Johnson has found fresh shapes, colors, and textures, that were exciting to to her. ‘People started telling me that the paintings would make them hungry and that they craved the food,’ she says.
Her work has been exhibited nationwide.