Zing
 
Why does one color or shape zing while another appears flat?  The reason is the existence of a powerful force or energy. Many cultures have studied this phenomenon. The Chinese call it chi. Neolithic tribes such as the Druids built stone circles in scared sites which emit this energy. We now call the sites and their connections to one another ley lines. In the sixties hippies hummed with the vibe, in the seventies Luke Sky Walker was be-knighted in the ways of the force.
 
Whatever the name, chi, vibe or force, this energy is mysterious and elusive. It exists in Rothko’s hovering color and Hepworth’s chiseled voids. It is this power that I experiment with and cultivate in my art. I call it zing.
 
Observation of the land feeds my art. From the landscape I gather materials such as stone,  wood, color and light. Each material inspires me.
 
A thousand pounds of granite moves and feels differently then a thousand pounds of blue. I combine these materials with elements, sky, water or the color of dirt. How much color, how simple a shape, how I move them next to each other, this is what brings my work to life. I work the material to a place of tension or peace. I am like a dowser looking for an aquifer hidden but present. The longer I practice the more I strive for a subtler touch or a simpler conveyance.
 
Zing exists within all shapes, textures, colors and materials. Tapping this force is like tapping and splitting a stone. This is the mystery and the magic. This search for zing drives my work.
 
 
Rebecca Johnson
www.rebeccajohnsonart.com