Kit Johns

We headed down to Cadgwith to have a chat with 27 year old Cornish artist Kit Johns. His art is fresh and brings a contemporary twist to the Cornish landscape and we discussed his inspiration and how experimental he is with his art.

How did you start painting?

I did fine art foundation at Truro and I decided to take a year out in between university and carried on painting throughout. This was where it all took off from really. I set up my current studio in Cadgwith and started putting pieces into galleries. From that moment I never really looked back. I then decided I wasn’t going back to university so I just carried on painting.

Where is your studio based?

My studio is based near Cadgwith near the Lizard, which is one of the smallest villages on the Lizard. I’ve been in this current studio for around a year.

What’s your inspiration?

I try and draw it from anywhere, I travel quite a bit and take a load of photographs and sketches that lead me to be quite experimental with new pieces, like incorporating maps within my work.

Are incorporating maps within your work a new idea of yours?

I really liked the vintage maps as objects anyway in their own right. So I really wanted to try and incorporate them in my own work but I couldn’t decide how and in the end I decided to stretch it around the canvas and paint on top of it. So basically pretending the map wasn’t on the canvas whilst I was painting. This technique now has basically become my trademark and a lot of people recognise me through the use of the maps and the collages.

You incorporate driftwood within your work too, tell about that.

I try and incorporate anything within my work. So I collect driftwood after the storms and for a lot of my canvases I build up a lot of textures through the paint and sand in order to really build up those layers.

What’s next for your paintings?

I’ve got some upcoming shows later this year. I’m hoping to try and experiment more with other mediums like resin and to see how I can try and incorporate that within my current paintings.

What would you say is your biggest achievement so far in your career?

Last year I had an exhibition at The Summerhouse Gallery in Marazion, Cornwall. That exhibition was pretty much my best show to date as it included my best and strongest collection of work. It was also then linked in with the Surface Against Sewage charity so we donated half of the sales of one painting to them.

Visit Kit's website or pop over to the gallery to see his work or you can keep up with Kit on Instagram and Facebook