Vanessa Johnson, phd
Vanessa Johnson, the principal conservator at Portland Paper Conservation LLC, holds a master’s degree with distinction as well as a PhD from Northumbria University in the conservation of art on paper. During her studies, she worked as a conservator at the Scottish Paper Conservation Studio in South Queensferry, Scotland, as well as in the library at the University of Edinburgh. During her PhD studies, she developed a particular expertise for the effects of lighting on artworks and the interpretation of SPDs when assessing the suitability of lighting scenarios.
She has worked most recently at Portland State University as part of the Pacific Northwest Conservation Science Consortium, working with museums in the Pacific Northwest to identify the media used by painter Mark Tobey, as well as analyzing the photographic materials used in the production of orotone photographs.
Vanessa is a current member of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) and the Western Association of Art Conservators (WAAC) and abides by the AIC code of ethics and core values.
publications
Johnson, Vanessa, Ivanny Jácome Ottati, Claire Kenny, Tami Lasseter Clare. The Identification of Materials and Processes Used in the Manufacture of Orotone, Hand-Colored Orotone, and Silvertone Photographs | Materia 2024
Johnson, Vanessa, Jane Colbourne, Kate Nicholson. “A Digital Imaging Tool for Identifying Photoactive Zinc Oxide Watercolor Pigments.” The Book and Paper Group Annual 40, (2021). bpga40-04.pdf
Presentations
Johnson, Vanessa, Nicholas Dorman, Chris White, Tami Lasseter Clare. “Characterization of Mark Tobey’s paint materials using mass spectrometry methods.” 51st Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation, May 20, 2023, Jacksonville, FL. Heritage science group talk.
Johnson, Vanessa, Ivanny Jácome Ottati, Claire Kenny, Tami Lasseter Clare. “Identifying materials and processes used in the manufacture of orotone, hand-colored orotone, and silvertone photographs.” WAAC Annual Meeting, October 12, 2022, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. General session talk.
Johnson, Vanessa, Nicholas Dorman, Chris White, Tami Lasseter Clare. “Investigation of Mark Tobey’s paint materials using mass spectrometry methods.” WAAC Annual Meeting, October 12, 2022, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. General session talk.
Johnson, Vanessa, Nicholas Dorman, Chris White, Tami Lasseter Clare. “Investigations of the binding medium of Mark Tobey paintings using Pyrolysis-GC/MS.” 50th Annual Meeting of the American Institute for Conservation, May 16, 2022, Los Angeles, CA. Heritage science group talk.
Johnson, Vanessa, Jane Colbourne, Kate Nicholson. “A digital imaging tool for identifying photoactive zinc oxide watercolor pigments.” AIC/SPNHC Joint Virtual Annual Meeting, May 19, 2021, online. Book and Paper Group talk.
Johnson, Vanessa. “Life imitating art: reproducing degraded watercolour paints in the lab.” Northumbria University Postgraduate Research Conference, April 26, 2017, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. Talk.
Johnson, Vanessa, Charis Theodorakopoulos, Justin Perry, & Jane Colbourne. “Zinc white: a preliminary study of the fluorescence of pigment particles as they change with degradative processes.” The Institute of Conservation 2016 Triennial Conference, June 16, 2016, Birmingham, UK. Heritage Science group talk.
Johnson, Vanessa. “Zinc oxide pigments: utilising the UV fluorescence of zinc white to predict degradation in artworks on paper.” Northumbria University Postgraduate Research Conference, April 25, 2016, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. Talk.
Johnson, Vanessa. “Exploring the relationship between fluorescence and degradation in zinc oxide watercolour pigments.” The Gerry Hedley Students Symposium, Northumbria University, June 8, 2015, Newcastle Upon Tyne, UK. Talk
Professional memberships and grants
The American Institute for Conservation (AIC) - 2014 - Present
The Western Association of Art Conservators (WAAC) - 2022 - Present
National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts Societies Patricia May Memorial Grant for excellent work in conservation studies, 2014