Art show gives the mudskipper its moment in the sun
Justene Williams transforms everyday detritus into a riotous celebration of evolution at the Queensland Art Gallery. Her new survey, Once We Were Mudskippers, opens with a playful nod to the amphibious fish that can both crawl on land and dive underwater, a metaphor that runs through the sprawling installation, performance, costume and video work on view.
The show is a bricolage of found objects and imagination. A modest boat bought on a marketplace has been reborn with towering legs and a soft jellyfish sculpture, while the 2012 piece In Your Boat My Scenic Personality of Space swarms in dots. Recent Emote Sculpture works borrow the kinetic language of video‑game avatars, and the 2021 installation The Vertigoats sends shop mannequins scrambling up the walls on elongated limbs, turning the gallery into a surreal habitat.
Williams’ practice is rooted in the grit of retail stockrooms and construction sites – she harvests materials from Bunnings aisles, roadside scrap, and even her own studio floor. This “grunge” sensibility, honed from early stints in fashion retail and later teaching, fuels a world‑building impulse that feels both improvised and meticulously staged. Curator Ellie Buttrose highlights the artist’s desire to make display itself a form of everyday labour, inviting viewers to linger in the absurd yet oddly familiar terrain.
The result is an exhibition that asks whether we are rising, falling, or simply slipping between air and water. It offers a generous dose of humor and wonder, encouraging visitors to let go of solemnity and simply enjoy the messy joy of creation.