BIO

Erin Johnson is an artist and scientific illustrator living and working in Los Angeles, CA. Specializing in molecular and cellular animation, she uses the cutting edge technology of movie production studios to bring science to life. By translating complex data into compelling stories, her work visualizes the exciting discoveries emerging in science.

Erin’s background is in the fine arts and social sciences. She holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she studied sculpture, photography, and animation. From 2005 – 2012 she worked in the field of audience research and evaluation at various institutions, including the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo headquarters, the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL, and the Institute for Learning Innovation’s New York office (ILI-NY). Her research at ILI-NY focused primarily on public engagement with science in a variety of settings, including science centers, zoos, aquariums, natural history museums, and amateur astronomy clubs. Applying the theories and skills of both these disciplines to her practice as a scientific illustrator, she creates works that are aesthetically rich and conceptually sensitive to audience experience.