Art Review | Feral Grace

Review Pip Goldsbury

Vashti Johnstone’s latest exhibition is a profound statement. Spiritually rich, Feral Grace bares the trademarks of Vashti’s seeping painterly style. Animated layers of riotous colour absorb the viewer, while Vashti’s distinctive lettering and dissolving lines are immediately recognisable. However, Feral Grace hits deeper than previous works: a primal experience, a spiritual veneration of nature, a multi-faceted exploration of an entrenched wildness.

A series of eleven large-scale works, Feral Grace is present and grounded, yet it takes the viewer on a journey of exploration. There’s an exhilarating madness and an uplifting chaos as colour chases light across the canvas. But this is coupled with an innate calmness, a portal to pause, breathe and reconnect.

A spiritual journey, the series is heavy with symbolism, from Vashti’s dense application of earth tones, representative of compassion, nurturing and wisdom, to feminine deities: sacred, intuitive and caring. Soaring birds become a metaphor for the connection between the earthly and the divine, while domesticated animals offer a glimpse into a world of peace and prosperity.

It’s Vashti’s realm, her inner being surging into her paintings, an otherworldly portal of transition, freedom and intuition, a way of being, and a place where the untamed and the sacred meet.