Judy Darragh

I'd first heard her name last week during a conversation with a lecturer and then again in a Facebook comment from a friend so I thought I'd better find out who exactly this Judy Darragh lady is everybody is comparing me to.

Formerly known as the "Queen of Kitsch", she's a Kiwi artist who creates her art from cheap, discarded materials. I love tacky and she makes tacky work!

Judy Darragh, 2003. Weeping wall [plastic beads set in foam].

Last years Hamilton River Festival saw her plant hundreds of fluorescent ping pong balls all down the bank. The work urged people to get involved and reflected ideas about communities working and labouring together. I'm so inspired, I may just have found my final essay topic for the year. Yus!