Art show gives the mudskipper its moment in the sun
Liz Hobday |
For anyone who feels contemporary art is pretentious, meet Justene Williams, possibly Australia’s best evidence that it doesn’t have to be.
The Brisbane-based artist is known to find her materials at the tip, by the side of the road, or at retailers Bunnings or Spotlight.
And what’s more, she will happily dismember her finished sculptures and use the parts to make new works.
Even the title of her major survey show at the Queensland Art Gallery could be read as a reminder to keep your feet on the ground – or in the mud.
Justene Williams: Once We Were Mudskippers opens Saturday, with artworks across performance, costume, sculpture, installation and video.
But why mudskippers? The under-appreciated fish can live on land, leap high into the air, and tunnel underground.
Williams has been creating small shapes with upturned feet and began to think of them as primordial beings, wondering whether humans are evolving – or the opposite.
“Are we breathing in air, or are we gasping for air? Are we sliding back into the water, or are we rising up? It was just this idea of evolution and the human race,” Williams told AAP.
The show is her biggest yet, featuring new work and art borrowed from collections around Australia.
A boat the artist bought for $200 on Facebook Marketplace is the basis for one of the first works visitors to her show will encounter, but it’s had an unusual evolution of its own, sprouting giant legs and acquiring a soft sculpture of a lady jellyfish.
In Your Boat My Scenic Personality of Space from 2012, dots cover every surface, while the more recent Emote Sculpture series was inspired by the video game Fortnite.
Another key work is 2021’s The Vertigoats, an installation in which shop mannequins climb the gallery walls, using impossibly long limbs.
“You’re walking, drifting, allowing things to come into your focus, and you allow those things to become a part of the work,” said Williams.
A move from Sydney to Brisbane six years ago meant Williams could have a much bigger studio space, and her sculptures have grown to match.
While there’s history and theory for those who look for it, Williams actually learnt the art of installation working in shopping malls, having started at Sportsgirl at the age of 14.
She clung to her retail gig even after starting to teach art at university, and her grunge approach to art making explores notions of display, desire and everyday labour.
The exhibition is curated by Ellie Buttrose, who says Williams is also driven by world building and a sense of improvisation.
Williams simply hopes people find a sense of joy in her work.
“I understand that there are things in the world that are far more important than art. So you know, I can only take myself so seriously,” she said.
Once We Were Mudskippers runs from October 3 until March 7.
AAP