KATE HULETT

I’ll Take You There. 

Exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea 2021


I grew up in Mullaloo, in the northern suburbs of Perth which, in the 80’s and 90’s, felt like the edge of the earth. Everything to do was south of where we lived.  After uni I went to the UK, and after a relatively long time, returned home to WA as an adult. I moved back in with my dad while I sorted out a permanent place to live. 

During this time - for a few years - I drove up and down the coast, from my temporary home in Mullaloo to my shop in Fremantle. After a while, the glorious 50km drive along the Indian Ocean transformed into a trial, and a huge sucker of time. 

This long, daily drive highlighted the complete absence of coastal public transport from the north to the south. No public transport for surfie kids, for restaurant goers, for pub drinkers, for coastal workers, for visiting tourists, for car-less residents, for retirees, or for the pure enjoyment of staring out a window toward our breathtaking West Coast.

My 2020 sculpture - Lost at Sea - a full size, replica bus stop made from steel and ply wood - was created to remind people about what we’re missing in regards to public services. In 2021, my follow-up work for Sculpture by the Sea, I’ll Take You There, presents a series of twenty, 35mm photos taken at fictional bus stops along the coastal route - from Ocean Reef to Coogee. A snippet of what passengers might see or do when traveling along the edge our sprawling coastal town.

I'll Take You There was the first photographic work exhibited at Sculpture by the Sea. 

Two young girls laying on an inflatable unicorn which is on white sand in front of the ocean. The girls arms are up and shielding their faces from the sun at Mullaloo Beach, Western Australia.
The top part of an old concrete bus shelter classic to Perth Western Australia in the 80's and 90's
Scuba diver heads in a circle off the edge of Hillary's Marina