“Family”
Kate Just
17 June → 2 July 2005
Recently, Kate 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 the forms, and emphasises domestic connections to clothes like socks, blankets or jumpers.
“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 is a feminist artist known for her inventive and political use of knitting. In addition to her solo practice, Just often works socially and collaboratively within communities to create large scale, public or textile based art projects that tackle significant social issues including gender-based violence, reproductive freedom, LGBTQIA rights and political protest.