SENSE OF PLACE | Meet the Artists
April Johnson, Kat Howard, and Jake Coan all have a gift for designing with nature.
April Johnson (
@flowerpsychos ) is a longtime stylist, design consultant, and founder of the fashion label Alasdair. She switched lanes during the pandemic, fell in love with the unlimited possibilities of botanicals, and her project flowerpsycho was born. Using unexpected materials to create non-traditional compositions, she captures the poetry of nature in all of its chaotic beauty.
Kat Howard (
@kat_howard ) makes fiber art that addresses the history of the persecution of women, through which she interrogates her own identity as a survivor of abuse and sexual violence. She uses abstraction, the innate emotional language of texture, and the repulsion/attraction of touch in her visual work to capture the fight to break free from trauma. Her material choices are integral to her tactile artistic concept—ranging from silkworm cocoons and merino wool roving to handspun yarn, raw cotton, leather, and muslin.
Jake Coan (
@jakecoan ) grew up in the Hudson Valley as the son of an architect and a potter. After studying Studio Art at Bard College and teaching engineering at the Brooklyn Robot Foundry, he has since channeled his curiosity for luminescence, vibration, and shape into designing one-of- a-kind art and light fixtures in his whimsical Berkshires studio. Coan’s influences include Issey Miyake, Isamu Noguchi, and Ingo Maurer, but more importantly: plants, rocks, and light.
Experience the full beauty of their work at Ohayo Mountain House. The exhibition is open every Saturday from 11am to 5pm (and by appointment) until May 31.
