Artist Talk Justene Williams

Justene Williams in her studio, Brisbane, May 2026 / Photograph: C Callistemon, QAGOMA

Justene Williams in her studio, Brisbane, May 2026 / Photograph: C Callistemon, QAGOMA / View full image

When

10.30 – 11.00 am, Sat 3 Oct 2026
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Where

Queensland Art Gallery, Watermall

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Accessible

What to expect

Admission

Free

About

Join artist Justene Williams in conversation as she reflects the creation of ‘Justene Williams: Once We Were Mudskippers’, her largest survey exhibition to date.

Through ambitious installations and a vivid combination of video, performance and sculpture, the exhibition traces two decades of Williams's practice.

In conversation with Ellie Buttrose (Curator, Contemporary Australian Art, QAGOMA).

Artist Justene Williams / Photograph: Ben Hudson / Image courtesy of the artist

Artist Justene Williams / Photograph: Ben Hudson / Image courtesy of the artist / View full image

Justene Williams

Justene Williams works improvisationally with figures and aspirations of the twentieth-century avant-garde, cast through a contemporary suburban lens via performance, sculpture, video, photography and installation. Her work draws on the display logics and motifs of mass retail merchandising, climbing gyms, gaming environments and dance competitions. With frenetic energy, she builds sets and costumes as frames for performance, and ‘dancing costumes’ as monumental sculpture, often using repurposed materials or materials that allow her to work quickly and at scale. Williams — the artist-worker — has a sustained yet impulsive commitment to art-making that underpins her figurative sculptural and photographic practice, workshopping new heroines and archetypes for our hyper-stimulated times.

Portrait of Ellie Buttrose, Curator, Contemporary Australian Art, QAGOMA, 2023 / Photograph: J Ruckli, QAGOMA

Portrait of Ellie Buttrose, Curator, Contemporary Australian Art, QAGOMA, 2023 / Photograph: J Ruckli, QAGOMA / View full image

Ellie Buttrose

Ellie Buttrose is a Curator, Contemporary Australian Art, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art and Curator of ‘Justene Williams: Once We Were Mudskippers. Ellie curated the ‘2026 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art: Yield Strength’ at Art Gallery of South Australia, Samstag Museum of Art and Adelaide Botanic Gardens featuring 24 artists who push their materials to build visual complexity or contort it to convey the limits of existence. Alongside artist Archie Moore and commissioner Creative Australia, Ellie won the Golden Lion for Best National Participation for the 2024 Australia Pavilion at the Venice Biennale for ‘Archie Moore: kith and kin’, the exhibition is now on display at QAGOMA.

Justene Williams, Australia b.1970; A Metal Cry (performance still, Carriageworks, Sydney) 2017; Courtesy: The artist, The Commercial, Sydney, and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne; Photograph: Ashley Barber / © Justene Williams /

Justene Williams, Australia b.1970; A Metal Cry (performance still, Carriageworks, Sydney) 2017; Courtesy: The artist, The Commercial, Sydney, and Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne; Photograph: Ashley Barber / © Justene Williams / / View full image

Justene Williams: Once We Were Mudskippers

3 Oct 2026 – 7 Mar 2027, QAG

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GOMA Friday Nights, May 2026 / Photograph: C Baxter, courtesy QAGOMA

GOMA Friday Nights, May 2026 / Photograph: C Baxter, courtesy QAGOMA / View full image

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What to expect

Here’s what to expect at this event.

Everyone is welcome! Please contact events.plus@qagoma.qld.gov.au in advance of the program if you have any access needs or queries about the event. Find out more about Accessibility at QAGOMA and planning your visit.

Participation and content

  • You are welcome to come with a friend or by yourself. Many people attend the Gallery solo.
  • This program is free and unbooked and has an approximate seated capacity of 100 attendees.
  • We ask all attendees to be kind, respectful, and courteous to all participants, speakers and staff at this event. This program will be monitored by QAGOMA staff to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our attendees, speakers and staff.

Sensory aspects and Accessibility

  • Speakers will use an amplified microphone. Please let us know in advance if you are hard of hearing so we can make this talk accessible for you.
  • A screen may be used during the event.
  • We try our best to minimise sound in the space, but sometimes there might be low-level noise from a nearby artwork or the sounds of the Gallery.
  • A combination of stools without backs and chairs with backs will be provided.
  • This event is wheelchair and pram accessible.
  • Pre-reserved accessible seating is available, please email events.plus@qagoma.qld.gov.au in advance to request accessible seating.
  • The Gallery air conditioning is set to 21°C to conserve the artworks.
  • If the event becomes overwhelming or stressful, earmuffs and sensory kits are available. Each kit contains a number of resources for self-regulation and calming. Please speak to a staff member for assistance. These kits can also be requested in advance by emailing events.plus@qagoma.qld.gov.au
  • This event will be photographed by QAGOMA staff. If you do not wish to be photographed, please advise a QAGOMA staff member on arrival.