9 May – 9 June
The space between Heaven and Earth is the space we live in. A place of beauty, wonder, solace and sustenance. These works explore the magnificence of our natural world in the hope that I inspire my fellow humans to honour and nurture our place in the universe.
As a visual artist with nearly 40 years experience, printmaking is my first love. I am constantly pushing the boundaries of time honoured techniques in order to better serve my subject matter and to extend the depths of my practice.
Sue Cooke studied printmaking at Ilam School of Fine Arts under Barry Cleavin and Denise Copland.
In 1984 Cooke and fellow printmaking student Marian Maguire, spent a week at Ilam School of Fine Arts acting as trainee Master Printers for renowned New Zealand artist Ralph Hotere. Hotere became a strong influence, mentor and longtime friend. Other influences are Henry Moore, Colin McCahon and Georgia O’Keefe.
Cooke’s practise focuses on ideas concerning global warming, care for the environment and sustainability. Career highlights include Panorama: A Print based on the Landscape of Lake Ohau at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, Christchurch; Tylee Cottage Artist in Resident; Towards New Horizons at the New Zealand High Commission in Singapore; A visit to the Antarctic Peninsula that led to The Paradise Project, exhibited at the Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui. The Gamli Skoli Residency on the island of Hrisey in North West Iceland enabled Cooke to draw and exhibit in Iceland. She followed this up with a residency at the London Print Studio working with stone lithography. Her visual investigations on the topic of deforestation were supported with a generous yearlong award from the Pollack Krasner Foundation in New York, USA leading to the development of A Songless Land, which has toured to the Percy Thomson Gallery, Stratford, Te Manawa, Palmerston North and the Eastern Southland Gallery, Gore.
Her work is in the New Zealand public collections of the New Zealand High Commission, the Christchurch Art Gallery, the Dunedin Public Art Gallery and the Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui. She also has work in numerous corporate and private collections.
She is currently establishing a new larger studio space in a church complex in Aramoho, Whanganui.