Sue Hiley Harris
‘Woven and Drawn’
Tuesday 29 May – Saturday 9 June
11 am – 5 pm
Venue: Lansdown Gallery Stroud GL5 1BB
Sue Hiley Harris is best known for the abstract handwoven sculpture she has been making since the late 1990s. This may be understood in relation to constructed abstract art generally, whether two or three dimensional. Material, structure and form are inter-dependent.
The forms are often derived from pure geometric shapes. These may be repeated or become multiple parts of a complete work. Sometimes they allude to natural forms or to life’s continuous natural cycle. The bare upland landscape of the Black Mountains and the Brecon Beacons has, for many years, been important in Sue’s life and has made an impact on her weaving.
In 2013 Sue was awarded a Creative Wales Award by the Arts Council of Wales to ‘explore the possibility of making woven body sculpture’. As part of this exploration Sue returned to drawing the figure from life after a break of almost forty years. This has stimulated an inter-est in drawing in the landscape. The drawings in this exhibition are a direct emotional re-sponse to regular visits to a particular part of Priory Groves, a wooded area near to her home in Brecon.
Shown at the exhibition are structures, woven with silver wire or paper yarn, based on geometric forms or as a response to the Priory Groves drawings. Working with silver is a result of skills learned during her Creative Wales Award explorations. Although she has been using paper yarn for many years, her recent work, as a result of the drawing, shows a new sense of energy and freedom.
Sue studied fine art at Queensland College of Art in her home town of Brisbane, Australia. Since moving to Britain she has studied handloom weaving in Bradford and science with the Open University.
Sue has exhibited and undertaken commissions both internationally and in the UK and has lectured and held workshops in Britain, Ireland, Australia and the USA. Her work is in public collections in Wales, France and Italy. Sue has lived in Wales for over thirty years, first on the western side of the Black Mountains and, for the past twelve years, in the town of Brecon.
Part of the Select Festival 2018 presented by SIT select
Images & text: SIT Select
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