Melbourne-based artist Kate James draws from a variety of media to produce objects, photographs, textile works and video. In creating her intricate, hand-crafted and psychologically-charged sculptures and objects, James employs repetitive and painstaking techniques, often adapted from uncommon, sometimes obsolete, craft practices.
In her recent work the measuring of time is counted out in tiny horsehair stitches; awkward nets of horsehair catch nothing but air in their attempt to control something unseen; funnels are both literal and metaphoric sites of transference from one state to another, or used as vessels to channel materials and change their course; objects spill out or catch substances in bulbous sacks. The introduction of a cipher symbolises juxtaposing ideas of emptiness/ fullness, nothingness/ completeness.
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What a Good Girl You Are
wool
dimensions variable
What a Good Girl You Are
Pegasus print
print size 39.5 x 71 cm
edition of 10
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The World is a Dangerous Place
The World is a Dangerous Place, 2004
wool
dimensions variable
The World is a Dangerous Place
The World is a Dangerous Place, 2004
Pegasus print
print size 50.5 x 68 cm
edition of 10
Lessons to be Learnt
wool and tapestry cloth
18 x 24 cm (image) 33 x 35 cm (tapestry)
series of 9 works
Lessons to be Learnt
wool and tapestry cloth
18 x 24 cm (image) 33 x 35 cm (tapestry)
series of 9 works
Lessons to be Learnt
wool and tapestry cloth
18 x 24 cm (image) 33 x 35 cm (tapestry)
series of 9 works
Letting Go
inkjet print on Somerset paper
48.3 x 33cm
edition of 10
Installation view
The Other Side of Despair, exhibition installation view
Photograph: Craig Burgess
Installation view
The Other Side of Despair, exhibition installation view
Photograph: Craig Burgess
Transference
Transference, 2009-2011
horsehair, glass, clay, fabric, pigment and coal
20 x 98 x 15cm
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Cipher
Cipher, 2011
horsehair, rope, steel, glass beads and acrylic beads
131 x 31 x 9cm
Photograph: Craig Burgess
Cipher
Cipher, 2011 (detail)
horsehair, rope, steel, glass beads and acrylic beads
131 x 31 x 9cm
web)_craig.jpg)
Hourglass
steel, clay, fabric, pigment, glass beads and acrylic beads
77 x 35 x 17cm
Photograph: Craig Burgess
Cornucopia
Cornucopia, 2011
horsehair, glass beads, acrylic beads and clay
dimensions variable (approx 6 x 32 x 36cm)
Cornucopia
horsehair, glass beads, acrylic beads and clay
dimensions variable (approx 32 x 36 x 6cm)
Photograph: Craig Burgess
The Distance Between Hope and Despair
The Distance Between Hope and Despair, 2011 (detail)
horsehair, dimensions variable
The Nodal Point
horsehair and wood
7.5 x 35 x 9cm
Photograph: Craig Burgess
The Nodal Point
The Nodal Point, 2007-2008
horsehair and wood, 7.5 x 35 x 9cm
The Work of Worry is Never Done
The Work of Worry is Never Done, 2006
horsehair and wood, 3 x 128 x 4cm
Installation view
The Other Side of Despair, exhibition installation view
Photograph: Craig Burgess
Hourglass
Hourglass, 2011
watercolour and gouache on paper
47 x 67.5cm, framed
Collection
Collection, 2011
watercolour on paper
47 x 67.5cm, framed
Harness
digital print
48.3 x 33 cm
edition of 3
Keeper
digital print
48.3 x 33 cm
edition of 3
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Shed
digital print
48.3 x 33 cm
edition of 3
Entwined
digital print
48.3 x 33 cm
edition of 3
Kate James (b. 1978 Melbourne, lives Melbourne)
Education
2005-2009 Master of Arts, (by research), School of Art at RMIT University, Melbourne
2004 Bachelor of Fine Art, Honours, majoring in Printmaking, RMIT University, Melbourne
1999-2001 Bachelor of Fine Art, majoring in Printmaking, RMIT University, Melbourne
1997-1998 Diploma of Visual Art, majoring in Photography, RMIT Tafe, Melbourne
Solo Exhibitions
2011 The Other Side of Despair, Daine Singer, Melbourne >>
2010 The Work of Worry is Never Done, Craft Victoria, Melbourne
2010 Letting Go, Maroondah Art Gallery, Ringwood
2009 The World is a Dangerous Place: The Anxious Experience, RMIT University, Building 49, examination exhibition, Melbourne
2006 Wind-suck, West Space, Melbourne
Group Exhibitions
2012 Hobart Art Prize, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart
2012 Tough Love, curated by Christine Morrow, Australian Experimental Art Foundation, Adelaide >>
2011 Print Culture, curated by Dr Ruth Johnstone, RMIT Project Space, Melbourne
2011 Reconstructing the Animal, Plimsoll Gallery, Hobart
2010 I’m Okay, You’re Okay, Level ARI, Brisbane
2010 Yering Sculpture Award and Exhibition, Yering Station, Yarra Glen
2009 Link II – School of Art Alumni Exhibition, RMIT School of Art Gallery, Melbourne
2008-2009 The Animal Gaze, London Metropolitan University; Plymouth College, Plymouth Arts Centre; Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery; Centre for Contemporary Art and the Natural World; Peninsula Arts Gallery; and Groundwork South West, UK
2007 Eye to Eye, Dubbo Regional Gallery, Dubbo
2006 The Idea of the Animal, Melbourne International Arts Festival Program, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Siemens Art Award, RMIT Students Fine Art Award, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Hatched, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, Perth
2005 What if?, The Wedding Circle, Chippendale, Sydney
2005 The Adventure Project, Firstdraft Gallery, Surry Hills, Sydney
2005 The Influence of Anxiety, Blindside Gallery, Melbourne
2005 Hurt Couture, Blindside Gallery, Arts Program: Melbourne L’Oreal Fashion Festival, Melbourne
2004 Connections, First Site Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Siemens Art Award, RMIT Students Fine Art Award, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Dislocation, First Site Gallery, Melbourne
2001 Spit, Bite and Grind, RMIT Printmaking Graduate Exhibition, Bulle Gallery, Melbourne
1999 Relating to Nature, George Paton Gallery, Melbourne
Bibliography
2011 Jordana Aamalia, ‘The Other Side of Despair’, (cat. essay) Daine Singer, Melbourne, June 2011
2011 Zoe De Luca, ‘I’m Okay, You’re Okay – Sanja Pahoki, Kate James, Agatha Gothe-Snape’, Eyeline Contemporary Visual Arts, No 73, p.94
2010 Robert Nelson, ‘Odd Objects of Desire’, The Age, 14 April 2010, p.20.
2010 Damian Smith, ‘Rides a white horse: Fear in the work of Kate James, Letting Go catalogue, Maroondah Art Gallery, March 2010.
2010 Shaun Campbell, ‘Exploring concept of anxiety – letting go more than just animal instinct’, Maroondah Leader and Lilydale and Yarra Valley Leader, 16 March and 23 March 2010, p.22 & 21.
2010 Tristan Maddocks, ‘Hairs to our Pets’, The Journal, 23 March 2010, p.47.
2010 ‘Exhibitions to Watch’, Artlink, Vol 30#1, March 2010, p.16.
2009 Rosemarie McGoldrick, The Animal Gaze, exh. cat., November 2008 – May 2009.
2007 Barbara Dover, Eye to Eye, exh. cat., Dubbo: Dubbo Regional Gallery, September-October 2007.
2006 Suzanne Davies (ed.), Idea of the Animal, (exh. cat.), Melbourne: RMIT Gallery, October 2006, Edition 1500.
2006 Arts Program ABC Television: Review of The Idea of the Animal, Sunday 22October 2.00pm, 2006.
2006 David Hansen, ‘Sightlines’, The Age, 27 October 2006.
2006 Melbourne International Arts Festival Pocket Guide: Arts Program Guidebook for “Unsettled Boundaries”, October 2006, p.36, Image and Artist Biography.
2005 Inga Gildchrist, ‘Artists’ worry beads are larger than life’, MX, p.2, 18 May 2005.
2005 Robert Nelson, ‘Sightlines’, The Age, 20 May 2005
2005 Christine Morrow, The Influence of Anxiety, exh. cat., Melbourne: Blindside Gallery, May 2005.
2005 Artlink, Vol 25 #1, November 2005, p.68, Image.
2005 Real Time, Front cover full colour reproduced image and artist biography, Aug-Sept 2005, p.2.
2005 Ted Snell, ‘Shape-Shifters’, The Weekend Australian, p.18-19, 4-5 June 2005.
2005 Artlife.blogspot.com: Review, 26 May 2005.
2005 Hatched 05, exh. cat., Perth: PICA, May 2005, p. 35.
2005 Robert Nelson, ‘Sightlines’, The Age, 11 March 2005.
2005 Christine Morrow, Hurt Couture, exh. cat., Melbourne: Blindside Gallery, March 2005.
2005 Anna Hirsh, Hurt Couture, exh. cat., Melbourne: Blindside Gallery, March 2005.
Awards, Grants, Residencies
2012 Highly Commended, Hobart Art Prize, Hobart
2011 RMIT Summer Print Residency, RMIT, Melbourne
2010 Finalist, Yering Sculpture Award and Exhibition, Yering Station, Yarra Glen
2009-2010 Artist-in-Residence, Maroondah Art Gallery, Ringwood
2005 Finalist, Siemens Art Award, RMIT Students Fine Art Award, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
2004 Finalist, Siemens Art Award, RMIT Students Fine Art Award, RMIT Gallery, Melbourne
Collections
RMIT Union Arts Collection
Maroondah Art Gallery Collection
Private collections in Australia and the United Kingdom
