Kate Just's Purls of Feminist Devotion

"Feminist Fan" is an ongoing series of hand-knitted replicas of self-portraits and other artworks by feminist artists around the globe, including Sarah Lucas, Pussy Riot, Guerrilla Girls, Cindy Sherman, Lynda Benglis, Juliana Huxtable, Mithu Sen, Tracey Moffatt, Yoko Ono, Hannah Wilke, and more. The title "Feminist Fan" emphasizes Just's reverence for these artists and feminism shows in each carefully stitched picture, requiring over 10,000 stitches and 80 hours work, and constituting a time-intensive act of devotion. Just constructs social media posts for every work on Instagram, extending feminism's potential reach, discourse, and influence. Echoing Just’s use of knitting as an art medium, many of the selected works highlight the potential of textiles, clothing, or adornment to expand representations of gender, sexuality, and identity. As a collection, "Feminist Fan" forms an intimate family portrait of feminism and of Just’s influences, in which threads of connection between artists across time periods and cultures emerge.

You can see the work at A.I.R. Gallery, 155 Plymouth St., Brooklyn, NY 11201. But hurry — the exhibit is only up through Saturday.

Kate Just was born in Connecticut, USA in 1974, and migrated to Melbourne, Australia in 1996 where she currently lives and works. Follow her on Instagram.