4-6 July 2025
A Little bit Lots is a phrase coined by Jori’s three year old daughter to describe a quantity that sits between a little and a lot. It is not a fixed quantity, but it is the exact amount required for the context. Achieving a little bit lots requires an attunement to the relational, spatial and temporal contexts in which a little bit lots has been requested.
Taking cues from the creative risks taken by children when stacking toys, kitchen items and other miscellaneous home appliances that they should not be playing with, Jori has created various wooden and ceramic sculptures that explore the potential for play as a method of inquiry.
Alongside these objects are images from Jori and his daughter that are both a result, and response to these inquiries. Throughout, the works reference “fetu ma’a”, star shaped mounds scattered across Samoa constructed with rocks and earth during ancient times. The purpose of these mounds are unknown, however some theories suggest that they held spiritual significance in pre-colonial times. The inclusion of these within the work are an imagining of the knowledges and practices that have been lost, and how much of ourselves have been lost in the process.
It feels like lots, but only just a little bit.
Jori Etuale is a Meanjin based emerging artist currently undertaking a Bachelor of Visual Arts at Queensland College of Art and Design. His work currently explores themes of family, cultural identity and questions the role and responsibilities of people Indigenous to other lands in the decolonial struggles of so-called Australia.
