Dion Johnson’s paintings synthesize his experience of Southern California’s natural and urban landscapes, architecture, lifestyle and the region's exciting history of influential visual art movements. In a recent interview with Ed Schad, Curator at The Broad in Los Angeles, Johnson reflects “Sometimes, my paintings are like abstract places informed by personal experiences. Layers of colors may allude to my view of the San Gabriel Mountains bathed in magenta light at sunrise, and aerodynamic shapes in a composition may suggest my peripheral perspective during a bicycle ride.”

At an early age I was exposed to contrasts in décor: my aunt’s chic 1970s home, decorated in velvets, metallic wallpapers, chrome, and shag carpet which stood in sharp contrast to my mother’s restrained formula of muted floral wallpaper with a matching valance and pillow. Those interiors shaped my eye for ornament, surface, and excess and span the breadth of my work. My Flower Remedy paintings revisit that history, blending pattern with imperfection and choice, allowing the paintings to almost merge with their surroundings. In this, I take what I inherited, resist control, and claim ornament as a choice, a personal language, and an act of resistance.

My work explores the connection between nature and artifice, between interior and exterior. I render botanical and animal forms in heightened color and intricate detail—recognizable but never exact—interpretations shaped by memory and touch. These pieces gleam with metallic surfaces and bright, unexpected colors, not necessarily found in nature: pink snakes, gold or black velvet leaves, electric blues. While the result might seem whimsical or innocuous, something darker lies beneath. Sometimes it’s literal trash: discarded plastic packaging embedded under gilded petals or wings.

Contemporary Art Matters is pleased to present Duet: Rob Wynne and Stephen Mueller, an exhibition curated by Wynne that pairs his hand-poured glass works with Mueller’s abstract paintings.

The work from these two internationally acclaimed artists will be on view at the gallery’s 243 N. 5th Street, Columbus, OH, location from March 5 through April 30, 2026.