Kait James
Dry Your Dishes on My Culture

Dry Your Dishes on My Culture by Wadawurrung visual artist Kait James explores questions relating to identity, perception and our knowledge of Australia’s Indigenous communities. In this exhibition, James focuses on Aboriginal Calendar Tea Towels from the 70-80’s that generalise and stereotype Indigenous culture, and subverts them with familiar pop-cultural references, Indigenous issues relevant to that era as well as the present day to reflect her contemporary perspective. Through her art, James personally reflects on her Indigenous heritage as well as addresses the way non-Indigenous western culture has dominated Australia’s history and how Australia and the world perceives First Nations’ People.

Kait James is a proud Wadawurrung woman and visual artist based in Melbourne. Using Punch Needling techniques with predominately wool and cotton, she embroiders and reappropriates kitsch found materials such as souvenir tea towels in ways that encourages responsiveness, unity and optimism within and beyond Indigenous communities. Kait obtained a Bachelor of Media Arts (Photography) from RMIT University in 2001 but only recently returned to making art through her love of textiles and colour. She is a past exhibitor in the Koorie Art Show 2018, as well as the Wyndham Art Prize 2019 and was a finalist in the Wangaratta Contemporary Textile Biannual.

Installation view, photo credit: Christian Capurro.