A Life in Sticky Notes
Every night for almost two decades, artist Clare Johnson has drawn and written on a Post-it to save a small piece of each ending day. Currently including over 6,000 sticky notes and growing nightly, this sprawling yet deeply intimate work honors what normal communication can’t—all the separate times held within ourselves, endlessly overlapping, collapsing and refocusing.
In this talk, learn about the project’s unlikely origins, discover how it responds to society’s erasure of queer histories, and experience hidden stories—from the dramatic to the lighthearted—behind individual post-its. Johnson invites audiences to exercise curiosity about hidden histories we each hold, explore the power of meaningful self-made ritual, and uncover strange magic in everyday life.
Speaker Bio
Clare Johnson is a multidisciplinary artist and writer celebrating overlooked spaces, histories, and memories. Honors include fellowships and residencies from Jack Straw, Hugo House, Crosstown Arts, Surel’s Place and James Castle House. Recent projects include an art scavenger hunt on the backs of traffic signs, a permanent supportive housing mural in Burien, window art in Cal Anderson Park about HIV and family, and co-editing the Washington State Queer Poetry Anthology.
Clare lives in Seattle.