Sarah Anne Johnson: House on Fire

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art

Sarah Anne Johnson, House on Fire, 2008, mixed media. Image courtesy of the artist.

Sarah Anne Johnson: House on Fire

June 4 – July 25, 2026
Opening Reception: Thursday, June 4, 2026, 7pm
Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Winnipeg

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art is delighted to announce House on Fire, an exhibition featuring Sarah Anne Johnson, on display from June 4 to July 25, 2026. Please join us on June 4 at 7pm to celebrate the opening of this exhibition.

House on Fire is the title of a long series of works produced by artist Sarah Anne Johnson. Coming from a deeply personal narrative, House on Fire is the artist’s belated response to a family trauma unearthed and fragmented, but one that she has ultimately reassembled.

Johnson’s grandmother, Velma Orlikow, was a victim of psychiatric experiments performed at the Allan Memorial Institute in Montreal. The installation, which centres on a dollhouse of secrets, also includes altered family photos, archival newspaper clippings, and small bronze figures of distress. Over time, the project grew from the original installation to include performances created for video.

This iteration of House on Fire is currently presented as a reconsideration of the original installation and an introduction to new works by this remarkable artist.

Plug In ICA would like to thank Michael Nesbitt for making this exhibition possible.

Sarah Anne Johnson, Brain Drain. Image courtesy of the artist.

About the Artist

Sarah Anne Johnson is a Winnipeg-born multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans photography, painting, sculpture, video, and performance. She holds a BFA from the University of Manitoba and an MFA from the Yale School of Art. Sarah is the recipient of numerous grants and awards and her work is held in several major permanent collections including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum. Sarah is best known for her photo-based practice in which she physically and digitally alters large-format prints with oil paint, gold leaf, stickers, and other materials.

Her relationship with nature has remained a consistent subject across her body of work, from her early series of photographs documenting her time as a tree planter in Northern Canada to her current work that examines the nostalgia we feel for a deeper, wild, more rugged connection with the natural world.

Acknowledgements

We are on Treaty 1 Territory. Plug In ICA is located on the territories of the Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and the National homeland of the Red River Métis. Our water is sourced from Shoal Lake 40 First Nation.

Plug In ICA extends our heartfelt gratitude to our generous donors, valued members, and dedicated volunteers. We acknowledge the sustaining support of our Director’s Circle. You all make a difference.

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Canada Council, the Manitoba Arts Council and Winnipeg Arts Council. We could not operate without their continued financial investment and lobbying efforts.

Plug In ICA relies on community support to remain free and accessible to all, and enable us to continue to present excellent programs. Please consider becoming a member of Plug In ICA and a donor at plugin.org/support or by contacting Gilles Hébert, Interim Executive Director at executivedirector@plugin.org.

For more information on public programming and exhibitions contact info@plugin.org.

For general information, please contact: info@plugin.org or call 1.204.942.1043

Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art
460 Portage Avenue, Unit 1
Winnipeg, MB R3C 0E8
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Image Descriptions:
1. A dollhouse sits on a white plinth. The house is yellow with wood shingles, a porch and a tree coming out the top left window. There are lights on inside the house.
2. A newspaper with the words Brain Drain at the top. Faint sketches can be seen over top.