Suzanne Hutton

I am a Melbourne based contemporary artist working in the areas of printmaking and painting and a teacher of visual arts. I have been a practising artist for around twenty years showing mainly in Melbourne in group and solo exhibitions. I am interested in the unseen and the subconscious. The drawing out and pushing back of memories and experiences. How does our environment, physical and psychological, influence our thoughts and perceptions and the way we travel through our lives? I am drawn to the natural environment, particularly fossils and geology, natural history. I find it fascinating to see the physical effects of time recorded in the earth and sea. We all have our own evolution and transformation that occurs throughout our lifetimes, my work is like a personal record of transformation, the printing plates and prints are like the evidence. I particularly like working with copper etching because you can erode the plate and really change the surface. I like to experiment with different materials to see what impressions I can make. I also like to use unpredictable methods which allow less control to see what naturally occurs. In my process I try to find equilibrium between control and chance, perfection and imperfection. I often work in panels which are like small fragments making up a whole story or sometimes a puzzle.