Travelling in Vietnam, Katie St. Johnston met and spoke to several homeless people on the streets who each had a tragic story to tell. Then, having considered the extent to which we overlook the homeless, she contacted several charities, chatting to several homeless people, and asking them about their own experiences, so that she might paint them. She wanted to know how these people ended up on the streets: therefore, in her thought-provoking series she collages news articles—about War, Addiction, and more general discussions of Homelessness—into her backgrounds, giving a literal voice to the people she had interviewed.
1 — VIETNAMESE MAN (Oil on Canvas, 120×100 cm)
Katie met Thanh in Vietnam, on the streets of Hanoi. It quickly transpired that he was on the streets as a result of the Vietnamese War. Once the conflict was over, he lost all contact with his family and all of his prior financial connections. Wanting to both narrate and paint his story, Katie collaged hundreds of newspaper articles about the Vietnamese War onto the back of the canvas, before proceeding to paint him on top as if he was coming out of the canvas.
2 — BRITISH MAN (Oil on Canvas, 200×120 cm)
Katie met Peter in the UK. He was a recovering addict, trying to piece his life together and get off the streets. In a similar vein to Vietnamese Man, she collaged several newspaper articles on homelessness in the UK and the damaging consequences of addiction before painting his figure on top. As a result, she was able to tell Peter’s story both visually and verbally.
3 — HOMELESS GIRL, LYING DOWN (Oil on Canvas, 200x120cm)
Following her interviews and encounters, Katie wanted to combine her thoughts and ideas on homelessness into her own constructed and imagined scene. Once again, she collaged a series of bold, thought-provoking newspaper articles and headlines on homelessness onto the background, before painting the scene on top.
