“In attempting to understand the nature of the world I inhabit and observe, I examine the myths, lies and truths of the social world in my paintings, and how the legacies of the past actively inform the experiences and analysis of the present.

My paintings, while driven by a personal narrative of collaged experiences, research, and thought, are intended to be ambiguous, to be interpreted or coloured by the experiences of the viewer.  I consider the narratives within my mind that drive these paintings to completion as transitive - it is not the events in life that provide our truth but our interpretation of them.

I am attempting in my work to understand the logic and emotions that drive we humans to do the things we do to others, and ourselves, and to understand what we may be creating in this age of ours. It is the legacy of being human, of being weak and strong, right and wrong, good and bad that’s in you and me - that’s in the everyday - that continues to permeate and unite the work I create.

In my mind, beyond reason and logic and the physical properties of space, there lie thoughts about the theatrics of life, a sense of man acting out, or not, the roles in life.  I acknowledge and analyze the discord I feel, and others, at the roles taken up through life, and while mostly willing and logical, it is not without a mental fight or the ever so slight cutting remark punctuated by disappointment - for how could it be any other way?  We may all experience the bittersweet choice of life, internally and eternally existent, but it is interesting to observe how that disappointment may create resignation, bitterness, hatred, regret, or the exciting possibility of choice and change within the individual.

A decade has passed, and the themes of war, violence, gendered roles, sexuality, politics, and social conformity continue to permeate my work. Can we live in a world without violence, without taking sides, without them and us, the have’s and have not’s? Can we avoid slipping into gendered roles if physically we are different? Can we be sexual without being considered deviant, and without playing out power roles? Can we be virtuous without sin? Can we survive in the world without a connection to another, even if the connection is false?  Impose order on chaos if the minds of others are chaotic? Create a social structure without being beguiled by power?

When sickness or disease affect us or those we love or know, we are reminded of the fragility of those we once thought strong, of those who held the power, and how bitter the reality connects with the memory of what was. When I see my paintings again after a time, I see it is these thoughts that provide the darkness and my delicate hand and the small acts of kindness I witness, which provide the lightness and fragility to the end piece. “

Susanne Kerr