Five questions for Dr Kate Just, Graduate Coursework Coordinator (Visual Art), University of Melbourne

Dr Kate Just is an award-winning contemporary artist and academic who has worked extensively with representations of the body, feminism, and queer arts theory and practice. As part of our ongoing Staff Stories, she tells us about what’s important to her and what she loves about her work.

As told to Kelly Southworth.

What can you tell us about what you’re holding in the main image here?

I’m driven by feminism and social justice in my art and life. A feminist curator I really admire, [recently-appointed Enterprise Professor] Natalie King, took me to the Pussy Riot show when they came to Melbourne and bought me this t-shirt. The coffee cup was gifted to me by a student in a moment when I needed caffeine and a bit of support. Fashion, coffee, and feminism shine a light through most of my days!

What do you consider your most valuable skill?

My octopus-like multitasking capacity.

What’s the best thing about working at the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music?

Being surrounded by graduate students and staff who bring humour, deep questioning, new ideas, great fashion, and excitement about art and life to the studios each day.

What do you most value in your friends?

Kindness, justice, loyalty and stability – my high-drama days are over.

Which talent would you most like to have?

Resting.

Dr Kate Just is an American-born Australian artist. She completed her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art) at the Victorian College of the Arts, followed by a Masters and a PhD in the arts, before becoming Graduate Coursework Coordinator for the Master of Contemporary Art and the Graduate Certificate of Visual Art at the VCA. Just has been the recipient of numerous grants and prizes for her artistic and academic endeavours.