Born in Taiwan , Johanna Schipper moved to France in 1974 and learned the French language by reading Tintin. After also learning Dutch and Chinese, she found that comics were the only comprehensive books without language barriers, thanks to the drawings. Therefore, she went to Angoulême to study comics at the école Supérieure de l'Image. In addition, she went to work as a colorist for comics artists like Moynot and Boudjellal. She also began organizing foreign expositions of francophone comics for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She travelled all over the world with the exposition, visiting around 50 countries.

From 1999, she assisted Gérald Gorridge in the training of young Vietnamese artists in several masterclasses. Between 1993 and 2000, she published short stories and illustrations for children's books and fanzines. Her character 'Nana' appeared in such black and white magazines as Le Lézard, PLG and Ogoun from 1995 to 1997, and were also translated in Polish. In 1999, she took on her character again, this time in a series of full color albums, called 'Les Phosfées'. in the juvenile collection of the publishing house Delcourt. In 2004, she created 'Née Quelque Part' in the collection Mirages.