Boccioni Babe

Justene Williams is a deeply intuitive artist who conjures the radical spirit of early-20th-century modernism in her work. This often takes the form of high-energy absurdist performances that comprise elaborate makeshift sets and costumes that playfully distort the body.

Williams transforms familiar materials into humorous, uncanny and compelling works with an eccentric edge. In 'Boccioni Babe' she captures a female figure mid-stride.
Its roughly hewn and angular forms (first cut and constructed in foam) defy gravity; it is inert yet ready to bound into motion.

The work refers to the Italian artist Umberto Boccioni – a key figure in early-20th-century futurism – and his iconic 1913 sculpture 'Unique forms of continuity in space'. Offering a contemporary counterpoint to Boccioni’s speeding figure of progress, Williams presents her vision of a progressive future as one in which femininity is writ large and unapologetically.