Susan Thomas | Still

Susan Thomas’ painted abstractions explore the role played by relational dynamics in our perception of individual figures.

The sense of security, safety, familiarity and comfort that one is embraced by in a domestic setting is referenced through combinations of soft pastel palettes with earth tones, exposed wood grain and feathery areas of paint and pencil-work - retaining a sense of the human and nature.

However, our perception of the natural is questioned, as the visual descriptors neglect to classify subject matter. Spatial arrangements of line, mass and light cause boundaries to cross into territories occupied by others, and as elements of tone intermingle, objects cease to be solitary entities. By flattening the picture plane, the negative space that frames what the tangible is recognised; the background is brought into equal significance with the foreground.

When the eye is permitted to meander in contemplation of light and form, we can encounter unexpected interactions within surroundings that seem fixed. Tampering with pattern, Thomas’ work invites us to approach experience of the world with playfulness, imagination and appreciation of detail.