QUOTES

“Pia Johnson’s photographic installation speak to personal experiences navigating an inherited non-White culture. In a much larger, well-lit and open bedroom, Johnson’s photographic installation offers snapshots of her grandparents’ suburban Australian house. There is a sense of rediscovering and living with the migrant history passed down through generations, and casting it as homely and familiar.” - Art + Australia

" There is a clever combination of the intensely personal with the objective ... Johnson's [work] is characterised by a clarity and expressive power that is seductive and embracing... Chinese Whispers and Other Stories is full of beautiful, evocative and conceptually enticing images. Some of these are outstanding and a tribute to the talents of the artists and to the selective intelligence of the curator." - The Canberra Times

" Chinese Whispers and Other Stories subtly shifts the labour of narrative-building from artist to audience. It simmers with questions, not just ‘Who am I?’ but ‘Who are you?’ or more pointedly, ‘Who are you to ask?’ It shatters stereotypes and rewards those who work patiently towards understanding. " - Pencilled In

"Gamble said she found photographer Pia Johnson’s untitled work to be the most moving. It consists of three panels of photographs of the artist obscured behind a shower curtain and is based on a young detainee’s report about asking to be allowed to shower for four minutes instead of the usual two." - The Huffington Post

“In a dim light… successfully unravels mixed tones of emotion that tells of an influential and personal narrative.” - Artist Profile

"While Pia Johnson's photographs of decrepit Shanghai neighbourhoods and architecture could have benefited from a larger format, her incisive compositions and unlikely spying of colour amid the rubble speaks of the places - and more implicitly, the people - that economic booms have a habit of forgetting." - The Age

“For a half-Asian viewer, Who’s the Chinese lady that picks you up from school? is really something! It is so rare to encounter half-Chinese representation, let alone an entire collection of portraits.” - Liminal Magazine

SELECTION TO READ: FULL FEATURE INTERVIEWS, PROFILES AND REVIEWS

3RRR Interview with SmartArts Richard Watts for ‘Re-Orient’, April 2024

3CR Interview with Breakfast Kannagi Bhatt for ‘Re-Orient’ exhibition, March 2024

Colourbox interview, April 2024

3RRR Interview with SmartArts Richard Watts for ‘Faint Echoes’ solo exhibition, July 2022

Artshub, So You Want My Arts Job column, interview feature, May 2022

Calder Western, interview feature, July 2020

Witness Performance, written feature piece by Pia Johnson, May 2020

The Eye of Photography feature newsletter and post, March 2018

3RRR Interview Parallel Lines, 28 March 2018

Liminal Mag, interview feature, February 2018

Trouble Mag, Salon feature x2, February 2018