John received an MFA from the University of Florida and a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute. John currently lives and works in Gainesville, Florida. The Superstructure SeriesThis mixed media body of work asks the viewer to reconsider social and class stratification assigned to one’s sense of place and what happens when notions of residence and autonomy are reimagined and put into motion. The Double Bind SeriesJohn has developed a technique to embellish the garment patterns with custom text inspired by contemporary feminist commentary and criticism, creating a conceptual narrative alongside the existing material narrative of imprinted assembly instructions found on the sewing patterns. This "new" text disrupts the nostalgic or stereotypical notion of "women's work". The viewer is asked to read both the text embedded surface and the image as a whole. The female figures in John’s paintings are typically stoic martyrs, agents of revolt, or fantastical beings. In every instance the identity of the figure(s) is denied by wraps, bonnets and bound faces, suggesting an anonymous “every woman” or veiled entity. Click to view: John Westmark Artwork Catalog