GERRI JOHNSON-MCMILLIN
www.gerrijohnsonmcmillin.com

"The ocean and what lies beneath its surface is the driving force behind my art. This inspires and emotionally connects both me and the viewer with life’s experiences. My work encourages people to look beyond perceived boundaries and to find delight in unexpected combinations of materials. Albacore fish bones and monofilament are used to create my vessel forms. In working with the bones I feel I am weaving life back into the fish and experiencing their migratory path throughout the world. Yet the end result is my sending them on another journey as another form. This, in turn, sends me on travels that recall the joys and tribulations of each fishing trip. These woven vessels are “my jewels of the sea, my vessels of remembrance."

Gerri has been creating art since her early childhood and loves the fiber arts. In 1972, she took her first basketry class. Although this is now her main medium, she still enjoys weaving, spinning and knotting. She is known for her fishbone vessels and knotted fiber sculptures. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and is in the permanent collections of the Long Beach Museum of Art and the Museum of Ventura County. Since 1999, Johnson-McMillin has been an Artist-in-Residence at Studio Channel Islands Art Center (SCIART) in Camarillo, where she teaches and was instrumental in developing the Fiber Art Studio.