The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

PROLIFIC artist Sue Katz this week invites the public to join her in exploring a new medium which produces one-of-a-kind results.

Her latest exhibition, “Inked”, opens this Saturday from 10am to 4pm and will run though April 12 at the Antonius Roberts Studio and Gallery at Hillside House.
Prior to the opening, Sue’s ‘Artist Talk’ takes place today from 10am to 12noon during the popular Wednesday coffee time.

Sue, a native of Boston who has been living in the Bahamas for over 15 years, is known throughout the Bahamas for her extensive experience in editorial and fashion illustration.

Much of her inspiration is derived from the natural beauty of the islands and the energy of the Bahamian people.
When she initially began the body of work for “Inked”, Sue said the idea was to combine her love of the specific figure with that of printmaking.

As she began to work, she found herself caught up in the act of drawing with the ink and becoming aware of the surface beneath the drawing.

For Sue, “Inked” simply means to mark or stain a surface, and essentially she is doing just that with this new exhibition.

Within this medium, Sue said she is able to work directly onto the plate; creating marks, blending colours and pushing and pulling the ink to the desired effect.

“All of the pieces in this show are mono prints, which means each one is unique and different. You can never achieve the same print a second time. Some of the pieces are straight prints without any added mediums, others are prints combined with a collage, and still others are prints that have been gone back and worked into with another medium such as coloured pencil. All of these pieces are new works using a new process and I am pleased to be able to exhibit and show the viewers something different,” said Sue.

With 21 pieces on display starting this Saturday, members of the public can look forward to a mixture of bold colours and styles.

Sue said one of the art pieces, entitled “Blending”, is a mono print combined with collage elements, such as a small figure drawing and other handmade papers. This piece combines her love of collage with the process of printmaking.

Another piece, entitled “Colour Block”, she said, is a mono print background combined with the solar print process. She also combined coloured pencil into this piece as well, which gives the work a strong, almost angular feel.

“I don’t have a specific ‘message’ as such with the art pieces, but I think it’s important, wherever you are, to expose and educate people to various and different forms of art. I would like viewers to ask questions about the process of printing and perhaps take away a new perspective as to what is art, said Sue.
Since her major concentration is collage, Sue said she wanted to show work that was very different from what she would usually create. “This doesn’t mean that you give up one medium for another. It simply means that changing and moving ahead in your work is what keeps art interesting and ignites passion,” she said.

For the remainder of the year, Sue said she is planning on continuing her process with the combination of printing and collage. Being able to use these two mediums together, she said, is liberating and exciting; the possibilities of putting together texture, colour and a variety of other elements are endless.

“I am looking forward to thinking of new ways in uniting these two disciplines which bring me such joy and give me such passion. Being able to create is a gift that I never take for granted. I am truly grateful,” she said.