For her ‘What If…’ studio/lab, Pia invites you to explore concepts of creating work, through a multi-pronged approach in a 3-hour workshop. 

Her residency experiment draws upon a decade of work in cultural identity and cross-cultural difference through photography and installation art. Informed by her skills within performance photography, collaborative practices and her PhD research, Johnson will investigate concepts of similarity and difference – in relation to blood, bloodlines and photography. This is a new line of investigation for Pia, who will engage with the intersection of science, technology and arts, and how these ideas then relate to a personal and cultural identity formation. 

The studio/lab will be divided into two sections, the initial an ‘ideas’ session of discussion and exercises; the second a ‘making’ session where a visual outcome will be produced. Participants may bring new ideas, approaches or existing project ideas to share. 

This workshop is ideal for:
– Artists and people working in ‘Creative Industries’ of all mediums and expertise.
– Artists interested in the cross sections of science, technology and art.
– Artists interested in cultural identity.
– Artists engaged or interested in photographic language and practices. 

About Pia: 

Pia Johnson is a photographer and visual artist, whose practice seeks to investigate issues about cultural difference, diaspora and identity. She also has a strong practice in portrait and performance photography, working with major and independent arts organisations in Australia. Pia has exhibited throughout Australia, the USA, Japan and Mexico. She has been a finalist in many photography awards, and is regularly invited as a guest speaker and artistic advisor for a range of organisations. Her work is collected in private and public collections including the National Gallery of Victoria. Recent highlights include a solo exhibition She That Came Before Me (2018) at Manningham Art Gallery, group exhibition All That We Can’t See (2018), her curatorial exhibitions The Family Mantle (2018) and Chinese Whispers and Other Stories (2017), and an artistic residency at National University of Singapore (2018). Pia holds a Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual arts) and Diploma of Modern Languages (Mandarin) from the University of Melbourne, and is currently a PhD (Art) candidate at RMIT University.  www.piajohnson.com