Kay Lee Williams

I am a Kamilaroi woman and multi-disciplinary artist and educator.

Born in Narrabri, raised in western Sydney and Cairns. My love of exploring, listening and responding to Country, shapes my creative and cultural expression. My practice flows through many forms; drawing, installation, bush dyeing, printmaking, video, and mark making with ochre, with each process becoming a way of listening to Country.

Examining many natural mediums, I enjoy gathering natural materials in the places travelled with care and respect. These elements are then woven into works, carrying their own stories of place and connecting her to culture. I use creative expression to speak on identity, belonging and connection, investigating the relationship and interactions between myself and each material.

Honouring deep connection to the elements of water and earth. The water for its movement, stillness and renewal, and the earth for its enduring and transient presence, forming a dialogue of merging worlds and the balance between the seen and the felt.

I work with silk, wool and paper, and often source remnants from various places. I use these to create a more sustainable artwork. I sometimes take my textiles into the environment and place them in the elements to photograph or film. This particular silk piece was taken to a place in Cairns called Crystal Cascades where I played with the silk and filmed this in the water and watched the colours dance in the flowing stream. The audio has the stream flowing but also children’s voices in the background enjoying the natural swimming holes.

My bush dyes on paper are another medium I enjoy creating and the process and outcome are very different to the silks and wool but using similar techniques. My process is unique to my practice in creating works in textiles and paper.