Megan-Jane Johnstone (preferred name Megan) is an emerging abstract artist and elected Signatory Member of the Victorian Artists Society (VAS) with whom she exhibits regularly. She works in mixed media using water-based paints (watercolour, acrylic), acrylic inks, gel plate monoprints, and collage. The primary inspiration for Megan’s work comes from the natural environment. Her painterly interpretations of iconic landmarks (e.g., mountains, rivers, lakes, forests, coastal terrains) aim to invite close reflection on nature’s unique colours, forms, purity, and fragility. Her works offer more than a representation of the natural environment and aim to evoke wonder, expand perception, cultivate respect, and spark a deeper appreciation of the need to protect the purity of our natural environment. Her work also seeks to highlight and honour the important physical metaphors for life that nature can offer.
Prior to taking up her art practice, Megan had a distinguished 43-year career in nursing – the last 30 years of which were in the university sector. Her academic positions have included appointments as professor of nursing at RMIT University and Deakin University.
In 2017 Megan retired from her academic position to re-engage with her childhood ambition to be a visual artist. Since retiring Megan has exhibited regularly in both select and open call art exhibitions in galleries around Melbourne. In 2025, she held her first solo exhibition ‘Wake-up call: lessons from nature’s sculptured landscapes’ at VAS, followed by a second solo art exhibition ‘As in nature…’ at Gallery Unbound in Northcote, Melbourne. Her third solo exhibition 'Poetic earth' featuring a new suite of collage works was held at St Vimcent's Hospital Art Gallery, Melbourne March-May 2026.
In 2025 Megan was a selected finalist in the Melbourne Association of Visual Artists (MAVA) MAVA Art Prize for 2025. In the same year, Megan was accepted as a full member of the Melbourne Society of Women Painters and Sculptors (MSWPS). She is currently serving as an Adjunct Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University, Melbourne.
|
