contemporary artist
of
water nature
- ocean, river, rain, spill... -
Water stories, the body, all the things we do,
are mediums that hide and show what's hidden.
Study them, and enjoy this being washed with
a secret we sometimes know, and then not.
Story Water
Rumi
*
*Translation: Coleman Barks
Susie David explores water and its wild fluid elemental nature.
Her work sometimes comes into contact with water itself - such as wave, rain, ice, spill... using materials such as pigment, pixel, wax, word, ink, ash, oil...
She gets close to water, and often into it, and under it - with a mask and snorkel! - to observe and gather traces, but these liquid liminal places or 'shores' can also be found inside - in the studio.
"Through dialogue with fluid dynamics, I want to learn water's wild philosophies."
Eastern philosophies and aesthetics, such as Wu-wei, are often illustrated with the poetics of water metaphor, and these deeply influence David's working processes and practice. She tells me that these books often form a wrack-line
around her bed!
"Being human has something of the sea, and I find that water has much to teach us. It is a kindred place of tidal
revealing and concealing, unfolding and becoming, and indeterminate - and this is essentially where my process plays, and when I paint, I try to enter this mindset
- as if I myself were water."
Paintings appear minimal, ephemeral
and abstract, though sometimes - by curious chance - reminiscent of wave, meander, rain, cloud, sea fret...
It has been likened to visual music.
Susie David's studio is in South Devon.
Exhibitions include: Korea Geumgang Nature Art Biennale; Ephemeral River Residency, Dartington, A Global Nomadic Art Project; Oxo Tower Wharf; Bogliasco Foundation Open Studio, Liguria, Italy; The Open Prize, Film Painting Award, Open Gallery, Shoreditch, London; Dust on the Mirror, Gallery North, Newcastle.
