Robin Johnson’s practice explores relationships within physical and psychological spaces. Merging her traditional fine art training and her background in graphic design, she use experiences from her past and present to address specific issues of culture, gender, and the environment. Through her history in surfing, snowboarding, and design, her imagery reflects the iconic natural and cultural milieu of her California upbringing and her continued inspiration from the outdoors and travel. Her passion for nature, animals, history, and design can be found throughout her work and inform the visual systems and methodologies of her process. Her imagery confronts often challenging and uncomfortable spaces through narrative structuring while the physicality of her layering methods mirror the layered histories and experiences that shape our present surroundings.

A nationally exhibiting artist, her work hangs in public and private collections across the country. Robin and her work have appeared on The Travel Channel's The Dead Files and HGTV's Hawaii Life, as well as being featured in a number of publications: Southwest Art, Riviera, Orange Coast, Studio Visit, COAST, Voyage LA and Cornell University's Epoch.

Robin is from coastal Southern California, Encinitas and Orange County, and received her MFA in Painting from the Laguna College of Art + Design in Laguna Beach, CA. She currently works out of her studio in Sacramento, CA and is Chair of the Art Department at Cosumnes River College. She previously served as a Professor of Painting at the Savannah College of Art and Design and has instructed at the University of California, Davis, Loyola Marymount University, Fullerton College, Irvine Valley College and Orange Coast College. She also served as archivist and studio assistant for noted California artist, Tony DeLap.


Exhibitions

2025  Gallery 85, Manhattan, NY “Whispers of the Wild”
2024  Cosumnes River College Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA “Robin Johnson: Golden Hills” 
2023  Cosumnes River College Art Gallery, Sacramento, CA “Faculty Exhibition”
2023  She/They Gallery, Santa Ana, CA “Valerie Samuel Henderson-Dinner Party“
2023  Alexander Hall Gallery, Savannah, GA “Faculty Exhibition”
2022  Location Gallery, Savannah, GA “Flannery O’Connor-Childhoood Home Benefit”    
2022  SCAD Atlanta, GA “Faculty Exhibition”
2021  Alexander Hall Gallery, Savannah, GA “Open Studio”
2021  Location Gallery, Savannah, GA “Savannopoly” 2020 Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA “Faculty Exhibition”
2020 Laguna College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA “Alumni Exhibition”
2020 SCAD Virtual, Savannah College of Art & Design, Savannah, GA “Open Studio”
2019 Golden West College Art Gallery, Huntington Beach, CA “Femella”
2018 Golden West College Art Gallery, Huntington Beach, CA “The Art of the Self”
2018 Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA Biennial Faculty Exhibition
2018 Coastline College, Newport, CA “On the Ropes, In the Kisser”
2017 Poets and Artists, Los Angeles, CA
2016 Coastline College, Newport, CA “Like Mark”
2016 Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA Biennial Faculty Exhibition
2016 Q Art Salon, Santa Ana, CA “Reflections on Home, Housing, Shelter” 
2015 Q Art Salon, Santa Ana, CA “Fleshed Out”
2015 San Dieguito Arts Guild, Encinitas, CA 
2014 WestEdge 2014, Santa Monica, CA
2014 Fullerton College Art Gallery, Fullerton, CA Biennial Faculty Exhibition
2014 San Dieguito Arts Guild, Encinitas, CA
2013 Angels Gate Cultural Center, San Pedro, CA,
        “Gettin’Off the Ground: Contemporary Stories From an American Community”
2013 Wells Fargo Bank, Laguna Beach, CA
2013 Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA “Nature Exhibition”
2013 Festival of the Arts, Laguna Beach, CA
2013 City of Brea Art Gallery, Brea, CA, “Made in California”
2012 Koplin Del Rio Gallery, Culver City, CA, Drawing Salon
2012 Studio Gallery: Bistango, Irvine, CA
2012 Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, CA, MFA Exhibition
2012 Huntington Beach Art Center, Huntington Beach, CA 
        “Contemporary Traditionalists”
2012 Arena 1 Gallery, Santa Monica, CA, Thesis Exhibition
2012 Wells Fargo Bank, Laguna Beach, CA, Festival of the Arts Preview
2012 Festival of the Arts, Laguna Beach, CA
2012 LCAD, Laguna Beach, CA, Graduate MFA Exhibition
2011 Sylvia White Gallery, Ventura, CA, Summer Show
2011 Mt. San Antonio College, Walnut, CA
        Two-Person Show: Inner Human; Robin Johnson & Nate Wilson
2011 House of Balsamic, Irvine, CA
2011 Chermers Gallery, Tustin, CA 
2011 Irvine Fine Arts Center, Irvine, CA 
2009 Fairhaven Juried Exhibit, Santa Ana, CA 
2009 Kudos Salon, Encinitas, CA 
2009 San Diego Art Institute Museum of the Living Artist, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA 
        50th International Juried Exhibition
2009 SDWCA San Diego Womens History Museum, San Diego, CA,
        Juried Exhibit, Herstory, Awarded: Best of Show & 2nd Place 
2009 LCAD Graduating Senior Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA 
2009 Collectors Choice Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA 
2009 Las Cruces Annual Art Exhibit, Las Cruces, CA 
2008 Dawson Cole Fine Art, Laguna Beach, CA 
2008 7°Gallery Drawing & Painting Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA 
2008 Las Cruces Annual Art Exhibit, Las Cruces, CA 
2008 Collectors Choice Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA 
        Awarded: Best of Show Junior 
2007 Las Cruces Annual Art Exhibit, Las Cruces, CA 
2007 Collectors Choice Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA 
2006 Collectors Choice Juried Fine Art Exhibition, Laguna Beach, CA

Publications