Susan Isaac – Paintings & Sculpture

This is the fourth installment about my solo exhibition, ‘Between Times’ at Gallery 6 in Newark-on-Trent, 9 Dec 2020 to 9 Jan 2021. Although the gallery is currently closed under Covid restrictions, you can see the full catalogue of works on the gallery website and contact the gallery for more information.

The wicker chairs that appear in these paintings became an important motif for me this year. They were, in part, a reminder of shared time with friends who’s company, under the circumstances, could no longer be enjoyed. But also these old Rattan chairs had belonged to my parents who had died some years earlier, and although still retaining their elegant form they had very little structural integrity and were no longer in useful service.

I put them in the orchard in early spring, and as summer progressed into autumn they dissolved further and the orchard vegetation began to grow rather beautifully through them, gradually absorbing them.

Through April and May, the Rattan bindings remained reasonably intact and their sharpened details gave opportunity to create striking woven textures to contrast with the abundance of nature’s patternation. The lines of elegantly manufactured shapes harmonised with their organic surroundings whilst at the same time drawing the eye to an ephemeral human presence.

By September, as the surfaces lost their distinction, I let the pair take on a more distant silhouetted appearance, entwined with the apple branches, sometimes flushed with an acute golden sunlight.

Here is a third installment about my solo exhibition, ‘Between Times’ at Gallery 6 in Newark-on-Trent, 9 Dec 2020 to 9 Jan 2021. Sadly the gallery has had to close under the latest restrictions, but the full catalogue of works is on the gallery website and you can contact the gallery for more information.

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By March of this year, the luxury of being outside and near to nature took on a new and urgent importance for me. Passages of the farm land, at one time taken for granted, became precious places as we were gifted with a moment to ‘stand and stare’. The orchard in particular became a refuge of abundant plant and animal activity.

The unabating ‘business as usual’ pattern of bird life all around was immensely soothing, as was the seasonal performance from the variety of apple, pear and plum trees. I allowed myself to sit and be mesmerised by the gentle theatre surrounding me. An old 3 legged fruit-picking ladder often strode into view, giving a hint of human habitation. This was gradually supplemented by a washing line which animated the scene. Eventually chairs and a table were fetched up to give new forms and textures and as a reminder of more congenial times. And all against a changing backdrop of buds, blossoms and fruits.