This piece reflects our different approaches to image-making. We have collaborated before on pieces early on in our artmaking lives and have continued in small ways through holiday cards throughout the years, but we have mainly focused on our biggest collaboration: our nine-year-old. Teresa has a current body of work focusing on cyanotypes and imagery that hold symbolic meaning; in working through ideas for this show we discussed how we could incorporate that into a combined piece.  Creating the print on paper allows Aaron to work back into the image, which is more in tune with his style of working with various media. The imagery in this piece looks to nature, referencing a traditional Victorian Valentine, and is a commentary on our society’s idea of what love is, or the purpose of love for a cis relationship.

Teresa and Aaron Johnson have been married for nearly 20 years. They met at Emporia State University in the late 90’s, where she was working toward a BFA in Painting, and he a BFA in Glass Forming. After graduating from ESU in 2002, Teresa went on to earn an MFA in Photography from Kansas State University. She has taught at KSU, McNeese State University in Lake Charles, LA, and she currently is an Instructor at Avila University in Kansas City, MO. Aaron graduated from ESU in 2001. He earned a BS in Engineering from McNeese State in 2012, and he works as a Maintenance Supervisor for Owens Corning Insulation.