Sue Bown – Artist
I am a painter and printmaker, my practice is an embodied enquiry into movement and the body. I use gestural mark making and layering to take the viewer on an uplifting journey into space and place. Colour, scale and materiality are important to me. As is the physicality of moving paint on a surface, the handling of a materials is an energetic excitement, an expression of self.
I trained at Arts University Plymouth where I graduated with a first class honours degree in Painting, Drawing and Printmaking, where I was awarded the Pro Vice Chancellors Award for Excellence. I was also delighted to be short-listed for the Platform Graduate Award. Stephen Felmingham, Pro Vice Chancellor at Arts University Plymouth said of my work ‘Sue’s paintings demonstrate a profound understanding of material, colour and form, which she employs in a series of mature and confident works. These are outstanding paintings that resonate deeply with the viewer and are a testament to the immense hard work she has put into her practice during the course.”
“Sue’s paintings demonstrate a profound understanding of material, colour and form, which she employs in a series of mature and confident works…”
Stephen Felmingham, Pro Vice Chancellor, Arts University Plymouth
Noticing detail in the world around me has been part of my essence for as long as I can remember. My work is almost always shaped by what is happening around me. My most recent body of work is based on geometrical shapes and colour relationships. I use the vibrant energy created between colours to amplify my message. I have recently been exploring the relationship between painting and printmaking. Particularly, the point where one practice transfers to another forming a print, creating a hybrid of the two disciplines. I use one discipline to inform the other and vice versa.
My influences are Sandra Blow whose dramatic compositions I find engaging and challenging. I hold a deep fascination in the colour palettes used by Patrick Heron and his written work on using brush strokes to create space in a painting.
Also, I am curious by the way art is interpreted and how the eye wants to make sense of an abstracted image. As human beings we look for familiar references, motifs that have a meaning for us. These references shaped by our own stories and idiosyncrasies. My guiding principle is ‘find a way’, this frequently features in my work and in my approach to my work and life. My art practice includes painting, drawing and printmaking techniques and frequently a mixture of them all. I work in oil, acrylic, watercolour, pastel, pencil, ink, spray paint and pen.
Collaboration is a strong component in my practice, I have recently taken part in a panel discussion at Impact 12, an international printmaking conference on the power of collaboration in breaking boundaries and forming a cohesive community.
“Great Painting, great art in general, is not about materials lived or methods mastered or even talent possessed. It is a combination of all of these factors, and a individual driven by a force that seems outside them, toward an expression of an ideal they often do not understand.”
Mary Gabriel, Ninth Street Women, 2018
Sue Bown – CV
Exchange – The Printmakers Gallery, Stroud
CVAN Platform Graduate Show, Arts University Plymouth
The Collaborative Space of Printmaking, Impact 12, Bristol
Split Practices, The Island, Bristol
2022 Degree Show, Arts University Plymouth
Postcards for Perec, UWE, UK, Istanbul, Sydney, Washington, Cyprus
Insights III, Harbour House, Kingsbridge
PD&P Show, Artmill Gallery, Plymouth
Reflections, The Flavel, Dartmouth
Insights II, Harbour House, Kingsbridge
Interface, Plymouth College of Art, Plymouth
The Energy of Plants, Harbour House, Kingsbridge
Black White, The Flavel, Dartmouth, Devon
Insights, Harbour House, Kingsbridge, Devon
From Natural to Abstraction, Open Exhibition, Harbour House, Kingsbridge
Radiant Gallery, Plymouth, US 8 Exhibition
Plymouth College of Art – Pip Seymour Portrait Exhibition
Lyme Regis ArtFest – Identity exhibition
The Mansion, Totnes
The Contemporary Craft Festival, Bovey Tracy
Private Collections, Worldwide
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