Esther Johnson is a visual artist based in Grand Cayman. Her art is inspired and informed by heritage craft practises and storytelling.

Her sculptures wind in on themselves, trapping within them the movements and skills of making by hand, or trail off into unfinished ends; allowing the energies and knowledge of making to dissipate beyond the confines of the piece. They foreground her desire to hold onto traditional skills of making and confront the loss of many cultural practises.

Her work references practical objects such as baskets and nets, through employing traditional methods of making. Yet these sculptures hold no practical use in themselves. In their loss of usefulness they speak to the lost or dying skills and knowledge of the practises and processes used to make them.

Johnson’s work is constructed through manipulating and repurposing abandoned and found materials. In each case the materials are sourced within the locality of the piece being created. Their use allows her to encounter the histories of these materials and bind them to the narratives of the place in which they have been found.

Johnsons’ sculptures hold not only the physical materials they are constructed of, but also the intangible elements of stories and cultural practises. She searches for new ways to gather, hold and celebrate the small stories of the people she meets and works with.