Shadows, wind, flies and rock formations

Suzanne Archer is a multidisciplinary artist, working throughout her multidecade career as a painter, drawer, printmaker, and sculptor. If you’ve been to visit the Gallery recently you might have noticed her striking artwork Shadows, Wind, Flies and Rock Formations featured on several of our exterior panels.

Having previously lived in Thirroul, Suzanne has a close connection to the Illawarra region. Her time spent in the area cemented her love of the distinct landscape of Australia, the South Coast, and the beach – which has been reflected in her works hanging in Landscape Tells the Way: Illawarra.

Suzanne said that she began visiting South Coast beaches with a large sketchbook, pencils and ink as she recorded what she saw and developed an emotional relationship with each place visited.

"These drawings became my main information and logged my emotional relationship with each place. So much so I am now using a third sketchbook and still completely immersed in the subject."

Artist Statement

In 2022 I was approached by Riste Andrievski as one of a group of artists he was inviting to participate in an exhibition about the South Coast to be held at Wollongong Art Gallery. I was really excited by this as in 1965 I had immigrated from England to Australia and a small ‘humpy’ in Thirroul was my first home. I remember sitting on the beach at Austinmer watching the waves rolling in with surfers balancing on their surfboards! I have visited those beaches many times over the years! Nowadays living in Wedderburn NSW, I consider these my local beaches.

To start working on this body of work I began visiting the South Coast beaches almost immediately with a large sketchbook, inks, coloured pencils etc. These drawings became my main information and logged my emotional relationship with each place. So much so I am now using a third sketchbook and still completely immersed in the subject.

The painting Shadows, Wind, Flies and Rock Formations here largely responds to the headland of Stanwell Park Beach and the incredible colour of the rocks.

Over the subsequent visits I also walked the beaches looking downward and collected a wonderful collection of objects ranging from shells, seaweeds, fish heads etc. A lot of these objects were included in the large paintings as details.

In the painting Beachcombing - South Coast some of those objects became the main focus.

I am still working on this theme and will be for a while I suspect!

Image: Suzanne Archer with Shadows, Wind, Flies and Rock Formations - Stanwell Park Beach

Image: (detail) Suzanne Archer, Shadows, Wind, Flies and Rock Formations - Stanwell Park Beach, 2023, oil on canvas.