Johal’s paintings are full of color and energy. Her focus is on geometric shapes, hard edge painting and an intuitive color palette inspired more by music and primal rhythms than rigorous theory. The result is a stunning array of upbeat paintings that reference many different art historical periods and movements. Johal is a meticulous detailed painter with crisp sharp edges, smooth flat surfaces and bold palettes. You will see Mid-Century Modern, hip 60s and a little Op Art with some homage to Victor Vasarely, Karl Benjamin and Frank Stella.

“Music plays an essential part in my painting process. I select the music to go with each painting and I simply cannot paint without music. Music, like painting reaches within to react directly upon the emotions.  Color vibrates for me on the canvas just like music does in my ears.  When I paint, I do not distinguish between what I hear and what I see, it's like a blending of the senses, a ‘Chromesthetic’ experience where heard sounds evoke an experience of color on the canvas.”

“Initially, I work out my compositions with pencil in hand and transfer this sketch to the canvas. I then select the music and allow the paint colors to be selected intuitively and in a random manner. It is interesting how the same color can appear completely different when placed next to others and how each color added changes the entire painting. I find that when regular color patterns are applied, the viewer finishes looking at the painting way too quickly where if colors are painted randomly, the viewer is really never done looking.”

“In the Polychromatic Scale paintings there is a gradual color change in the polygon shapes which echoes polychromatic music where you hear much more than the standard chromatic scale with the use of electronic keyboards.”