Wheel of misfortune
2019
Medium
wool, cotton and metallic yarn on printed cotton
Measurements
74.0 × 45.0 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2020
© Kait James
Gallery location
Gallery 1
Ground Level, NGV Australia
About this work
Kait James has embroidered a ‘wheel of misfortune’ across a vintage tea towel from 1981 that is illustrated with Aboriginal faces and bodies. The intricately sewn wheel references the Australian TV game show Wheel of Fortune, which reached peak popularity in the 1980s and 90s. James’s subversive wheel highlights the significantly higher rates of suicide and incarceration that Australian First Nations peoples experience compared to the non-Indigenous population in Australia.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Inscription
stitched in pink wool l.r.: KJ
Accession Number
2020.164
Department
First Nations Australia