On March 15, 2020, my city was placed under lockdown, and on that day, I received a phone call informing me that I likely had an untreatable chronic disease. These images were made in response to navigating a new diagnosis of celiac disease as well as the terrifying banality of the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each image has been captured using a digital camera from the early 2000s, each image itself skewed, pixelated and damaged. These images represent a holistic approach to healing, a visual response to moments of difficulty or moments of joy. This work was exhibited as part of the Portrait Gallery of Canada’s online exhibition In Keeping With Myself, curated by Darren Pottie.
“Johnston has crafted her Invalid series as a virtual installation to explore her life struggles within visible and barely visible chronic illnesses. Each image has been captured using a digital camera from the early 2000s, as a means of showing the skewed vision of someone who is constantly struggling against the limits of their mind and body. The series serves to document the meandering path of chronic mental and physical illnesses. These images represent a holistic approach to healing, a visual response to moments of difficulty or moments of joy. With these images, Johnston asks herself and her viewers: What constitutes the self, if mind and body are in turmoil? If mind and body are in turmoil, where can a safe space be found?”
— Darren Pottie, curator of In Keeping With Myself at the Portrait Gallery of Canada, 2021