The Hermit, the Fates, the Warrior, and the Fool
Introduction
Susan Pearson is a multidisciplinary artist from Whalsay in Shetland. Her work is inspired by the transformative power of materials, (is)landscapes, and the human body.
Susan is interested in how objects and materials can hold layers and wrappings of seemingly antithetical meanings, like past and future, masculine and feminine, homely and uncanny, tangible and intangible. Wrapped in perceptible and imperceptible forces. In her dissertation she discussed the importance of the use of art to unearth and explore these imperceptible forces - like time, identity, or spirituality.
When working with soft sculpture, she manipulates, tears, plaits, and wraps cloth and yarn to create cords and organic shapes; almost part of the human animal. Insides, outsides.
In Susan's work with wild clay, she is connected to the transformative power of the earth. Her earth figures become islands. These were initially inspired by local folklore and the story of a woman buried on a small island in a loch; woman wrapped in earth and water and earth and water; woman becoming island.
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