The Playwright Edward Albee once wrote, “If you are willing to fail interestingly, you tend to succeed interestingly.” I came across this line while browsing Edward Albee’s personal collection of books and records in the library during a residency at ‘The Barn’ in Montauk, NY. His quote resonated as a reminder of something both familiar and necessary to hear again. In order to fully realise our own vision we have to be willing to try and willing to fail.
In New York, I became absorbed in the idea of taking everything in—an “omnivorous cast” of experience. This phrase surfaced one morning upon returning home, hitting me in a sleepy haze. Initially I hardly knew what it meant. Serendipity has a way of surprising us with bright sparks of unchecked intelligence and I was delighted that this title seemed to express my process abroad.
My time in New York included visits to the Pollock-Krasner House in The Springs, a modest two storey timber shingled dwelling; and to Louse Point, a pebbled inlet beach and favourite fishing spot of Willem de Kooning’s. My newfound New Yorker friends had enlightened me to stories of the East End Artists; Lee Krasner, Jackson Pollock, Willem and Elaine De Kooning amongst others. Two of whom had personal connections to some of these famous figures.
“Tell your own story and you will be interesting,” said Louise Bourgeois. This constant feeling of remaining open to possibilities, doing away with preconceived expectations, and allowing new discoveries to emerge created a diaristic form of working. I found myself searching the natural environment for clues and collecting found objects, discovering once again that the natural world really is a guiding light for my practice.
From my studio window I spotted a tree growing across the boggy stream that seemed to possess a human character - It had flailing arms like an inflatable figure, long legs (one slightly bent) and hair sticking straight up. This was the genesis of my first large painting.
On the beach in Montauk i found a small rusty fragment of barbed wire which now appears as an uncanny running man in a large dark landscape. A piece of rubbish now ‘cast’ in a major role in this painting; I was ‘casting’ my net far and wide and eating everything.
The great art I had encountered milled around in my mind. Visions of Jack Whitten’s large sculptural, layered, scrape paintings I had seen at MoMA, Amy Sillman’s use of colour and line, the immense gravity of Richard Serra’s forms. On returning to New York city after spending April in Montauk, I was able to see Willem De Kooning’s “Endless Painting” at Gagosian; the sand from the beaches which inspired these works still between my toes, my breath now fully taken away.
Pia Murphy, 2025
For regional Victorian-based artist Pia Murphy, the thrill of abstract painting comes from not knowing what is about to emerge from the canvas. She doesn’t sketch out her ideas or attempt to assert an outcome on the process, preferring to leave herself open to whatever creative energy comes forth.
Instinct and experimentation are key. Having originally trained in print-making, Murphy was subsequently drawn to clay sculpture, then watercolour, then oil paint. Though her first compositions were still lifes, she quickly progressed to abstraction to better capture the spirit and power of her imagination, and the unexpected magic that occurs when subconscious play is underpinned by formal principles.
Perhaps counterintuitively, there is as much deliberate destruction in these works as there is making. Paint is applied, then trowelled off, reapplied, then sanded back, scraped and voided as Murphy wrestles the surface towards a balance between gritty manipulation, nuanced colour and intuitive movement.
The works are personal, inasmuch as they’re inspired by Murphy’s place in the world and her ongoing personal evolution, but a degree of ambiguity is important. Murphy wants the viewer to bring their own curiosity and worldview to her work that, when combined with her original intent, creates a language that she hopes is universal.
A graduate of the Victorian College of the Arts (Bachelor of Fine Art, 2004), Pia Murphy has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and internationally in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. Winner of the 2004 National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Women’s Association Encouragement Award, her work is held in private collections in Australia, the USA, Italy and Switzerland.
Bachelor of Fine Art, Printmaking, Victorian College of the Arts
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2025
'Omnivorous cast', Edwina Corlette, Brisbane
2024
'Florescence', Edwina Corlette, Brisbane
'Garden Gravity', Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne
2022
‘Eternal Springtime’, Michael Reid Northern Beaches, Sydney
2018
‘Twin Flames’, LON Gallery, Melbourne
2017
‘A great big shape and a smaller one’, Caves Gallery, Melbourne
2014
‘Land’ Chapterhouse Lane Gallery, Melbourne
2013
‘Saccade’, Pieces Of Eight Gallery, Melbourne
2012
‘Woolgather’, Chapterhouse Lane Gallery, Melbourne
‘New Work’, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne
2011
Gorman presents ‘Pia Murphy’, Melbourne
2010
‘New Work’, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025
Sydney Contemporary Art Fair with Edwina Corlette
Quarantine Art Fair with Nicholas Thompson Gallery
2024
'How to Swim', curated by Sally Anderson, Edwina Corlette, Brisbane
2023
'Small Works', Edwina Corlette, Brisbane
'The Birregurra Art Show', Birregurra, Victoria
'Sunday Salon Showroom', Melbourne, Victoria
2022
‘Softly, Soflty’, curated by Amber Cresswell Bell, Michael Reid Northern Beaches, Sydney
2021
‘The Birregurra Art Show’, Birregurra Hall, Victoria
‘A Square of Sunlight’, curated by Helen Gory, Backwoods Gallery, Melbourne
‘The show must go on’, Sunday Salon, Melbourne
‘Brindar con extranos’, Galeria Trinta, Spain
2019
‘Spring-Time #4’, Lamington Drive, Melbourne
2018
‘Spring 1883’, CAVES inc. Melbourne
‘The Horse’, curated by Noel Mckenna, Darren Knight Gallery, Sydney
‘The Birregurra Art Show,’ Birregurra Hall, Victoria
2017
‘Not Fair’, curated by Tony Lloyd, Sam Leach and Ashley Crawford, Melbourne
‘Last Drinks’, LON Gallery, Melbourne
2016
‘Concrete Agenda’, curated by Tai Snaith, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne
‘The ordinary instant’, Over 50 works by Clarice Beckett alongside Seven contemporary women artists, Bayside Arts and Cultural Centre, Brighton
‘Faux Studio’, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne
‘Group Show: Second Iteration’, Arts Project Australia, Melbourne
2015
‘Group Show’, Chapterhouse Lane Gallery, Melbourne
‘Shots off the dices’, an exhibition of Australia and international artists curated by Rhys Lee, Nicholas Thompson Gallery, Melbourne
‘Faux Fair’, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne
2014
‘Faux Museum’, curated by Anusha Kenny, Melissa Loughnan, Kate Tucker and Ace Wagstaff, C3 Contemporary Art Space, Melbourne
2012
‘Paintings of Steves’ Paintings’, St.Heliers St. Gallery, Melbourne
2011
‘Scarecrow’, curated by Rhys Lee including Rhys Lee, Pia Murphy, Heidi Yardley, Rob McHaffie, Daniel Price and Matt Hinkley, Karen Woodbury Gallery, Melbourne
‘1.85 Million: Art Peripheries’, Campbelltown Arts Centre, Sydney
2010
‘Exquisite Palette Show’, St. Luke. Artist Colourmen, Melbourne
2008
‘Exquisite Palette Show’, St. Luke. Artist Colourmen, Melbourne
2007
‘50 - a print exchange portfolio’, curated by Rona Green, Geelong Regional Gallery
2004
‘Nguyen Van Cuong Printmaking Project’, Hobson’s Bay City Council Gallery
AWARDS
2004
Winner, National Gallery of Victoria Women’s Association Encouragement Award, Victoria
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2023
Miasma Magazine, Issue 1
2022
Hunter & Folk feature by Holly Terry
2016
‘Artists collaborate without talking’ Art Guide Australia, Andrew Stephens, December
2014
‘Pia Murphy + Rhys Lee’, Journal of Australian Ceramics, volume 53, issue 3, by Alicia Sciberras, November
2012
‘A new chapter’ Broadsheet, May 22
2011
‘Ceramic Goodness’ Frankie Magazine, November 24
‘Scarecrow’, Dan Rule, The Age, June 17
COLLECTIONS
Private collections Australia, USA, Italy, Switzerland
Congratulations to Pia Murphy who has been awarded a 2025 Visual Arts Fellowship to begin a residency in Montauk, New York. The fellowship was awarded through the Edward F. Albee Foundation and recognises the great talent of a range of artists bi-annually. The foundation aims to provide opportunities to a range of artists through a residency at ‘The Barn’, made possible through the abundant proceeds from the play ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’, memorialising Edward F Albee’s contribution to the arts.
