Photointarsia combines the multiple imagery of photocollage with the medieval artform of intarsia, where intricate pieces of a variety of woods were inlaid to create extraordinary images. Intarsia was painting with wood; Photointarsia is painting with photographs.

For each artwork, P Jane Johnson creates a palette from multiple rolls of film taken of an object or a locale from a range of vantage points. These photographs are sliced and painstakingly inlaid entirely by hand to create the photointarsia which, when completed, comprises hundreds of pieces that recreate the experience of space and time.

The pieces which make up the final image are first taped into place; when the image is completed the tape is replaced with an archival backing substrate, leaving an uninterrupted surface.

The back of the Photointarsia bears raised edges from the knife slicing the photographs. From this, before the final backing is applied Jane is able to create a small series of frottage drawings, in a combination of media, which she calls "Reverse Osmosis". These one-of-a-kind drawings reveal the patterns and shapes of the component pieces; once the final backing is applied no further "reverse osmosis" drawings can be created (these may also be seen through clicking on the individual Photointarsia images used to create them: see "images").

Original prints of the photointarsia images are available exclusively through the artist (see "contact" page).