Welcome to the new website! Here’s a quick resume of the time since completing the MA:
September 2021
The MA is done, and the results are in. Wonderful - a Distinction! Despite all the interruptions and disturbance of the pandemic it’s been a fruitful time. Aberystwyth University has done an amazing job keeping teaching going.
I’ve been in full swing getting the final show together, despite being unwell for months. It's hard to imagine what it will be like no longer being a student. To my surprise, I’ve been considering applying to do a PhD here. I do not consider myself an academic, so until now it has seemed out of the question to consider taking this next step. Something to think about.
January 2022
I’ve submitted a proposal for PhD: Materiality, Materials, Making and Meaning. I’m not sure I have the questions tight enough, but they can be refined as we go on. In the meantime, my proposal has been accepted. I have a studio, supervision, technical assistance, and a peer group.
March
Discussions begin with some other postgraduates to start a mid-Wales contemporary art group, for discussion, critique and showing work. As always, the isolation in Wales is a problem.
In London, Present-Imperfect restarted discussions after the long hiatus of Covid. Sadly, after two or three meetings we disbanded when it became apparent that there were incompatible agendas within the group.
June
John Harvey, who has worked for many years at the School of Art is retiring. He has been a tremendous tutor and supervisor to so many at the School of Art. His interest and support have been invaluable. He will be missed at the School of Art. I am sure we will stay in touch.
August
I’m going to take temporary withdrawal from the PhD. It’s a whole different ballgame from the MA. More isolated and stringent. But the main thing I am not sure the direction of enquiry I chose is right for me. If I continue with it, I will more likely focus on aesthetics, philosophy and psychology. Fundamental questions need to be addressed, such as what is art? How can you tell what is and is not art?
September
A lovely holiday in the Jura.
October
Some members of the now defunct Present-Imperfect are assembling a new group, planning a show sometime in the new year. We chose the name Future Conditional - a fitting sequel to Present Imperfect. We are applying to use the gallery behind the library in Stoke Newington towards the end of March.
December and January
A lovely holiday in Australia, mainly to visit family. My sister introduced me to the fascinating, intricate work of the sculptor Bronwyn Oliver.
We saw some wonderful art:
In Melbourne Ian potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria.
In Adelaide The Jam Factory.
In Sydney at Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, Do Ho Suh.
March 2023
Future Conditional are getting ready for our new show in Stoke Newington, 23rd to 27th March, in the gallery behind Stoke Newington Library. I’m taking my MA micro-pallets and some new pieces created for the show.
I gave a presentation to this year’s MA students at the School of Art about my work and practice. I’ve not had feedback yet. I wonder what they made of my neo-minimalism in the midst of all the contemporary works they have looked at during this semester.
John Harvey Emeritus Professor at the School of Art in Aberystwyth, who lives nearby visited the other day for coffee and a chat. He wrote about the visit the following day in his blog. Such thoughtful words:
To my mind, her artworks are objects in the world that beckon to a significance that lies beyond it. As when we encounter the inscription of an ancient and indecipherable writing, meaning and intent are assumed to be present even if they cannot be interpreted in terms that are comprehensible to us. These objects have an evident structure and syntax, even while the elements of their ‘language’ comprise only a few glyph, which are repeated — yet without ever appearing repetitive. The objects are assembled from familiar and base materials associated with our everyday lives, such as corrugated cardboard packing, barbecue sticks, and wooden transport palettes. These things are transformed — through the alchemy of selection, appropriation, conceptualisation, construction, and gilding (in some cases) — into what would, in a less materialistic culture than our own, serve as a tangible focus for contemplation, a backdrop to ritual, and the promissory of a reality that lies beyond the grasp of the physical senses. Susan’s objects are sown into the seam that joins together art and non-art; they are ‘the red thread / Between Nothingness / And Eternity’ (Sri Chimnoy (1931-2007), ‘My Flute’ (1974). (John Harvey, 'Summa: diary (March 1-3, 2023)' Intersections of Sound, Image, Word, and Life https://bit.ly/3YkVyNk).
September 2021
The MA is done, and the results are in. Wonderful - a Distinction! Despite all the interruptions and disturbance of the pandemic it’s been a fruitful time. Aberystwyth University has done an amazing job keeping teaching going.
I’ve been in full swing getting the final show together, despite being unwell for months. It's hard to imagine what it will be like no longer being a student. To my surprise, I’ve been considering applying to do a PhD here. I do not consider myself an academic, so until now it has seemed out of the question to consider taking this next step. Something to think about.
January 2022
I’ve submitted a proposal for PhD: Materiality, Materials, Making and Meaning. I’m not sure I have the questions tight enough, but they can be refined as we go on. In the meantime, my proposal has been accepted. I have a studio, supervision, technical assistance, and a peer group.
March
Discussions begin with some other postgraduates to start a mid-Wales contemporary art group, for discussion, critique and showing work. As always, the isolation in Wales is a problem.
In London, Present-Imperfect restarted discussions after the long hiatus of Covid. Sadly, after two or three meetings we disbanded when it became apparent that there were incompatible agendas within the group.
June
John Harvey, who has worked for many years at the School of Art is retiring. He has been a tremendous tutor and supervisor to so many at the School of Art. His interest and support have been invaluable. He will be missed at the School of Art. I am sure we will stay in touch.
August
I’m going to take temporary withdrawal from the PhD. It’s a whole different ballgame from the MA. More isolated and stringent. But the main thing I am not sure the direction of enquiry I chose is right for me. If I continue with it, I will more likely focus on aesthetics, philosophy and psychology. Fundamental questions need to be addressed, such as what is art? How can you tell what is and is not art?
September
A lovely holiday in the Jura.
October
Some members of the now defunct Present-Imperfect are assembling a new group, planning a show sometime in the new year. We chose the name Future Conditional - a fitting sequel to Present Imperfect. We are applying to use the gallery behind the library in Stoke Newington towards the end of March.
December and January
A lovely holiday in Australia, mainly to visit family. My sister introduced me to the fascinating, intricate work of the sculptor Bronwyn Oliver.
We saw some wonderful art:
In Melbourne Ian potter Centre, National Gallery of Victoria.
In Adelaide The Jam Factory.
In Sydney at Sydney Museum of Contemporary Art, Do Ho Suh.
March 2023
Future Conditional are getting ready for our new show in Stoke Newington, 23rd to 27th March, in the gallery behind Stoke Newington Library. I’m taking my MA micro-pallets and some new pieces created for the show.
I gave a presentation to this year’s MA students at the School of Art about my work and practice. I’ve not had feedback yet. I wonder what they made of my neo-minimalism in the midst of all the contemporary works they have looked at during this semester.
John Harvey Emeritus Professor at the School of Art in Aberystwyth, who lives nearby visited the other day for coffee and a chat. He wrote about the visit the following day in his blog. Such thoughtful words:
To my mind, her artworks are objects in the world that beckon to a significance that lies beyond it. As when we encounter the inscription of an ancient and indecipherable writing, meaning and intent are assumed to be present even if they cannot be interpreted in terms that are comprehensible to us. These objects have an evident structure and syntax, even while the elements of their ‘language’ comprise only a few glyph, which are repeated — yet without ever appearing repetitive. The objects are assembled from familiar and base materials associated with our everyday lives, such as corrugated cardboard packing, barbecue sticks, and wooden transport palettes. These things are transformed — through the alchemy of selection, appropriation, conceptualisation, construction, and gilding (in some cases) — into what would, in a less materialistic culture than our own, serve as a tangible focus for contemplation, a backdrop to ritual, and the promissory of a reality that lies beyond the grasp of the physical senses. Susan’s objects are sown into the seam that joins together art and non-art; they are ‘the red thread / Between Nothingness / And Eternity’ (Sri Chimnoy (1931-2007), ‘My Flute’ (1974). (John Harvey, 'Summa: diary (March 1-3, 2023)' Intersections of Sound, Image, Word, and Life https://bit.ly/3YkVyNk).
