ABOUT

Sue has always maintained an interest in art. In 2015, she took a break from a 25-year career in finance to steer a new direction. She obtained her Foundation Degree in 2022 and graduated with a BA in Fine Art from the University of Gloucestershire in 2024. Born in Liverpool in 1966, she currently lives and works in Bristol, UK.

Sue sees a clear connection between past and present and draws on her strong interest art history to create figurative oil paintings that reference time and memory and embody her own thoughts and experiences. She finds subject matter in life around her, creating snapshots of relatable moments with lasting value for the future. Sue is interested in the anonymity of the figure as a means of engaging the viewer in a shared experience, often choosing to depict her subjects from behind. She is drawn to clothing, as a symbolic marker of our time and individual identity, for the kinetic energy of the fabric as it clings, and for the tonal possibilities it presents in folds, creases and shadows.

Drawing is a fundamental part of Sue's process. She routinely turns to charcoal for the freedom it affords her to reflect and rework, repeatedly interrogating the same group of emerging characters to investigate what she sees and feels. She sees a synergy between charcoal and oil paint, their rich fluidity allowing her to create and erase before making any final commitment. She works mostly from photographs, manipulating imagery to explore composition, enlarging, fading, and cropping her subject matter, often forcing it to extend beyond the picture plane. These open-ended threads create potential uncertainty for an audience, who are invited to invent their own narratives. 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2024 Degree Show, 7 - 12 June, Bristol School of Art

2022 Studio Zero, 27 May - 1 June, The Sub Rooms, Stroud