Born and educated in Trinidad W.I., Susan moved to the UK aged 23. She currently lives in Farnham, Surrey. ‘I always wished I had learned batik at high school…I loved the imperfect marks the method offers, and the colours of the Caribbean are second to none.’ says Susan. Some 40 years after leaving High School she came across the textile group “Committed to Cloth” run by artist Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan and discovered her passion for textile art and surface design had not faded…and so the journey to learn began….
The exhibition at the West Pier Centre is a small series of work on the Brighton West Pier called “up in smoke”. Fascinated by the beauty of decay the perfect imperfect…and the often uncelebrated value of a declining structure and its characterful marks, Susan sought to find a means of giving a true and meaningful image of the burnt and decaying structure, that would be instantly recognisable. It is a way of celebrating its past story, but still showing the beauty of its gradual decay. Says Susan, ‘I used a process called “break-down printing”, which I adapted to create my own process, using Procion Dyes on a large silk screen onto Calico and then free machine embroidered. In this process each piece is totally individual.’
Exhibition opens 10th January – mid April 2020 Friday – Monday 11.00am – 4.30pm West Pier Centre, Kings Road Arches, Brighton Seafront
