UPPER SAUCON TWP., Pa. — By the time viewers reach the first corner of Femi J. Johnson’s "Like It Is," exhibition at Penn State Lehigh Valley, they're already inside a conversation.
That is, a discovery of Johnson's use of color and memory — and past and present.
Installed in the Ronald K. De Long Gallery under the careful eye of curator Ann Lalik, the work transforms the space into what Lalik and Johnson call “storyscapes,” inviting visitors to slow down, look closely and interpret the art for themselves.
Discussions about the show began more than a year ago, giving Johnson time to create with the space itself in mind.
A longtime Easton resident, he will share more about his process at an artist reception at the gallery on Feb. 4.
“As I work with it, I’m working myself out of my depression. By the time it’s finished, I’m in a pretty happy spot — or at least an OK spot.”"Like It Is" curator Femi J. Johnson
“He’s familiar with the space,” Lalik said. “So a lot of the energy in the work already had this place in mind. He wasn’t reacting afterward — he really created it for here.”
Rather than selecting from existing pieces, Johnson spent much of the past year producing work while envisioning how it would live on the gallery’s walls.
“I try to do that for each space,” he said. “I try to have unique work for the space that it’s going into.”
'Muh more going on'
That intention is evident in Johnson's "Recurrence," a series he has been developing for more than three years.
Dominated by saturated greens, blues and layered blacks, the paintings read as meditative yet emotionally charged.
The series, Johnson said, began as a way to work through his own depression.
“When I wake up every day, I’m pretty much depressed,” he said. “So this is a way for me to work through it.
“As I work with it, I’m working myself out of my depression. By the time it’s finished, I’m in a pretty happy spot — or at least an OK spot.”
Lalik said she sees that emotional layering as central to Johnson’s practice.
“His work is very multilayered,” she said. “The color draws you in — it’s seductive — but then as you approach, you discover the collage, the drawings, the symbols.
"You realize there’s much more going on.”
A nod to his hometown
Those symbols often draw from Yoruba spiritual traditions, forming small, almost figure-like presences within the paintings.
Johnson's pieces, filled with drawings, bits of collage and unexpected textures, reward close looking, while evocative titles such as "Mojo Is Here to Stay" offer narrative openings without fixed conclusions.
“They’re stories for me,” Johnson said. “There are places to be. I’m an introvert, so this is my extrovert — my voice.”
"I Ain’t Forget" turns outward, anchoring Johnson’s abstract language in deeply personal photographs of Easton —specifically the Sixth Street neighborhood where he grew up.
“I grew up on the streets of Easton. A lot of what’s inside of me comes from that.”"Lime It Is" creator Femi J. Johnson
The mixed-media work incorporates photographs Johnson took, including images of alleyways, demolished buildings and the Police Athletic League building, often referred to as the Drake Building, that was demolished in 1972.
Johnson said he learned to box there as a teenager.
Another photograph in "I Ain't Forget" shows his childhood home on Sixth Street.
“I grew up on the streets of Easton,” Johnson said. “A lot of what’s inside of me comes from that.”
The piece draws on memories of the late 1960s, when Johnson, who graduated from high school in 1970, was coming of age amid the Vietnam War, the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. and local civil rights activism in Easton.
Woven into the composition is a fragment of West African cloth, a tactile reminder of cultural inheritance.
"In the '60s, we used to wear a lot of African fabric,” Johnson said. “It needed to be there.”
Despite the weight of that history, "I Ain’t Forget" features splashes of bright yellow — a color Johnson said he associates with sustenance and endurance.
“Yellow is what’s going to pull us through,” he said.
Careful dialogue
The exhibition’s installation reflects a careful dialogue between artist and curator.
Johnson provided the work, but Lalik handled the placement, guided by visual relationships rather than titles.
“I respond to how the colors speak to each other,” Lalik said.
“Femi had his story, his process. But what matters is what viewers take away. These works invite you to create your own story.”"Like It Is" curator Ann Lalik
One painting in particular, "The Trickster and the Lotus," has spiritual significance — drawing from Yoruba cosmology, where the trickster represents thresholds, communication and choice.
Lalik said she selected it instinctively as an entrance piece.
“That energy belongs at the threshold,” Johnson said. “That’s exactly where it should be.”
Lalik said Johnson's exhibition — especially as students and faculty move through the gallery — offers more than visual impact.
“Femi had his story, his process,” she said. “But what matters is what viewers take away. These works invite you to create your own story.”
That, Johnson said, is the point.
“My main objective is to be positive and authentic,” he said. “This is how I work through things.
"And if it helps someone else do the same — even just for a moment — then it’s doing what it needs to do.”
"Like It Is" will be on display through May 9. The exhibition is open to the public non-5 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and noon-3 p.m. Fridays. Admission to the gallery is free. For information, visit the gallery's website.
