Arts Design

BEAUTY FROM DISASTROUS PLACES

Courtesy of Sheila Johnson Collection, "Sandal Market" Lake Victoria, Uganda

There is a special art to finding beauty in the midst of disaster. Sheila Johnson is an artist who does it beautifully. You can see it in her vibrant poetic photographs, taken in places like Haiti, Rwanda, and Uganda, all countries in crisis. But Johnson takes this art to an even higher level, by helping to restore the lives of the people who live there. She’s designed an exquisite new collection of scarves, digitally printed with her photographs, and she donates the proceeds from their sale to the people who need it the most.

Photo: Courtesy of Sheila Johnson Collection, “Lavender Cross” Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

The scarves, while many depict hard times, are a luxury. Encouraged and advised by Donna Karan, Johnson did a lot of research into manufacturers, processes, and materials, concerned primarily with image and color reproduction, as well as a soft luxe feel. It’s a challenge to print photography on fabric, because the ink sits on top of the fibers of 99% of the fabrics used, but for higher resolution, it needs to bleed into the weave. She also wanted to print her full photo in a large format so it could tell more of the story. She finally found a small factory in Prato, Italy that could execute her unique vision. Crafted of modal, a textile, made from beech tree pulp, the scarves are big enough to wear as shawls, sarongs, and halters.

Photo: Courtesy of Sheila Johnson Collection, “Koi”

The Spring 2013 scarf collection, called “Contes: A Woman’s Journey,” is really a collection of stories. “The Sandal Market” features packed rows of brightly colored flip flops for sale near Lake Victoria, Uganda. The market vendor is a woman. “She survives on less than a dollar a day, but she works towards her dream of one day owning her own store,” Johnson explains. “She is a survivor and an inspiration, and everyday I strive to walk in her footsteps.” Another, “Door in Rubble,” featuring a sky-blue door in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, after the devastating 2010 earthquake, is stunning, both in its intense super-saturated color and its ironic symbolism. Johnson accompanied Donna Karan to Haiti in a mission to help restore economic prosperity to the people there. “I imagined that in time, the Haitian people would open the door and find that life, peace and beauty had triumphed once again,” says Johnson.

Photo: Courtesy of Sheila Johnson Collection, “Door in Rubble” Port-Au-Prince, Haiti

These scarves represent a vortex of visual, spiritual, and emotional art. Johnson, herself, is a swirl of creative energy, intelligence, and heart. Beyond photography, she is an unlikely blend of concert violinist, business maverick, hotelier, film producer, and philanthropist, all with remarkable accomplishment. “I’ve always been involved in arts. Performance and experiencing global ideas inspired me, made me passionate about beauty and design.”

Her childhood was filled with music and humble privilege, and it set the foundation for both her artistic and philanthropic endeavors later in life. She and her former husband, Robert L. Johnson, co-founded Black Entertainment Network (BET), which they built and sold to Viacom for $3 billion. She is second, only to Oprah, in being the wealthiest African American woman. She is owner/part-owner of Washington Capitals (NHL), Washington Mystics (WNBA), and the Washington Wizards (NBA). Johnson also founded and runs Salamander Hospitality, a chain of super-luxury resorts. She has channeled an abundance of creativity and resources largely towards women’s empowerment, poverty and disaster relief programs. Johnson serves as Global Ambassador to CARE, she co-founded and supports the Lady Salamanders, a soccer team for homeless young women, as well as supports a number of other related causes.

Photo: Courtesy of Sheila Johnson Collection, “Rwanda Woman” Lake Victoria, Uganda

“Rwanda Woman” shows reason for hope. “Resilient, resourceful, proud and beautiful. Women may be poverty’s greatest victims,” says Johnson, “but they are also one of its greatest antidotes.”

Photo: Courtesy of Sheila Johnson Collection, “Cerulean Sky”

When looped around your neck, or draped around your shoulders, you won’t see the subject or the story. You can’t tell that the motif is a photograph. You will only see a remarkable play of gorgeous colors, rippling sensually in the folds, and magically accenting whatever else you are wearing. But you will know, in your heart, that the stories are there, and that your purchase is helping the stories to get better for people who desperately need a break. In fact, these exceptionally beautiful scarves tell stories, about both the extraordinary life of their creator and the millions of others whose lives she works to save.