suzanne harris

I am a painter living in west Wales interested predominantly in figurative painting.  Some of my work has a narrative or symbolic element to it, using oils, acrylics and mixed media.

My painting style is constantly evolving using colour, and mark making techniques, combined with experimenting with stencils, spray paint or pattern within portraiture. I am very interested in the mystery behind the face and ambiguity of expression and context.

A recent series of work lead me to exploring my experience of childhood in 1960s Britain. Working from family photographs and memory, I was interested in capturing the nostalgia and relative innocence of the past in context of the challenging reality of the present and uncertain future.

Like many artists, I felt the need to respond to the pandemic through my work and produced a series of nine paintings entitled ‘Masked’. All were images of well-known musicians who have a strong political or protest element to their work. All are wearing face coverings featuring their song titles or lyrics that related in some way to our lived experience during lockdown. The portraits symbolize the barriers to verbal communication when masked and the actual masks add a layer of separation between the viewer and the artwork.

I regularly paint with a collective of artists led by Roy Marsden (RCA) and am happiest in my studio painting and listening to music. Song titles or lines from songs have become an integral part of titles for my paintings.