Sue Brown

Artist Statement

I am a multi-disciplinary artist exploring universal narratives such as trauma, loss, and faith and how art can manifest them physically. I focus on the relational aesthetics of place, space, and form at the intersection of physics and matter.

This aligns with New Materialism, a philosophical perspective suggesting that artworks contain unique, independent powers linked to their constituent materials. Far from being passive or inert until an artist brings them to life, all materials have their own potential to act, create, destroy, and transform (agency). That potential works in tandem with an artwork’s narrative, affecting how the viewer interprets, and engages with the work and its environment.

I am inspired by artistic interpretation of negative space. This space may be perceptual or actual and is around, between and within objects. There, it is dialogic and relational, making conversations between an artwork’s elements and the unique environment in which they exist. This is exemplified by fine art architect Daniel Libeskind’s uses of space and void (see his Jewish Museum, Berlin or the Imperial War Museum North, UK). I have been influenced by ceramicist Claire Curneen, whose haunting figurative sculptures in white porcelain, terracotta, or black stoneware resonate with traces of her Irish Catholic roots. She uses form, posture, and carefully placed gold or indigo glazes to elicit a powerful interconnectedness between artwork, narrative, and viewer. I am also influenced by Nathan Slate Joseph’s use of pure pigments to enhance the natural oxidation of galvanised steel.

Supplication explores the unseen language of the heart, called ‘prayer’. It does this in engraved, enamelled, slumped glass and resin, and signs and symbols traditional to in eastern European orthodox Christianity. Supplication includes a meditation and Biblical texts in Cyrillic Ukrainian, reflecting my response to the human costs of Russian aggression. In Pieces is a ceramic project investigating how colour and process communicate post-traumatic growth following military service.