Recently, Just began to develop a number of works exploring the anthropomorphic quality of particular gardens, plants and land sites. Mythology and fairy tales inspired Family, where human and natural forms morph into a hybrid body. Personal and popular references abound in the work; think Poltergeist, the Wizard of Oz, and The Neverending Story, where trees or plants become living, fearsome characters.

Ultimately, Family is a surreal knitted portrait of Just’s own family, whose heads and hands appear at the ends of leaf-less branches. The knitting operates as both a literal and metaphorical weaving together of the forms, and emphasises domestic connections to clothes like socks, blankets or jumpers.

Just says, “As a kid, my siblings and I spent a lot of time in trees, climbing, sitting and telling secrets. When my brother died, I kept dreaming of us all, together again in a tree…”

Lake Macquarie City Art Gallery, Booragul, NSW generously provided funds and support for this work to be made.

Kate Just completed a Filmmaking Degree at Boston University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Victorian College of the Arts, where she currently teaches. This is her eighth solo show.