Trained as an art teacher in Queensland before studying painting with John Ogburn in Sydney and undertaking a two-year study tour of art in Europe. Since 1979, Kerry Johns has exhibited consistently. Recent major exhibitions include several regional galleries in Australia, notably Broken Hill, Penrith, Caloundra and Fremantle.

She has been included in invitation and curated exhibitions in NSW and Queensland and most recently has held two solo exhibitions in New York. Her work centres on landscape and relationship to place.