Johnny Willems
Johnny Willems (he/they) is a Mexican-American artist and social worker based in Indianapolis. Johnny was raised in Northwest Indiana, born to an immigrant family with roots in Mexico, Chile, & Indonesia. His art practice spans printmaking, collage, and self-publishing to explore themes of political struggle, grief, and spirituality. He became involved with local arts and activist communities in NWI where he began experimenting with graffiti and zinemaking. A graduate of the Indiana University School of Social Work, Johnny works in the field of community mental health. He served as a Gallery Assistant at the Fonseca-Du Bois Gallery and was a member of the Gluestick Zine Collective, facilitating accessible arts programming across Indianapolis. Johnny runs CLEAR TRUTH Press which offers community self-publishing and screenprinting resources.
Johnny’s present work incorporates historical documents, family photographs, and found objects to take a personal lens to ideas as wide as political revolutions and immigration. Despite not attending art school, he does not consider himself to be a self-taught artist. Johnny describes himself as a communally-trained artist, whose work must reflect the local community & respect the tradition of artists who have used art as a tool to fight for social change.
He is a participant in the 2025 Latino Artist Mentorship Program and his work will be on display at the Eiteljorg Museum from December 2025 through January 2026 as part of the ‘De Aquí y De Allá’ group exhibition. His work can be found online at @clear.turth and cleartruth.studio
