He was originally known for his finely crafted and intricate sculptures made of reclaimed wood. Johnson creates the works’ sumptuous surfaces through his use of varying wood types, colors, and textures. The artist combines the disparate wood elements to create his finished works and refers to resolved pieces as paintings. The term is appropriate, given Johnson’s concern with composition, surface texture, color, and pattern–formal elements of the painting vernacular. Johnson painstakingly selects thin strips of weathered wood, painted and unpainted, imbuing his geometrical compositions with color, pattern, and texture, highlighting pattern through his application of a formal grid of wire nails and graphite.