SUE HAWKER by Milford Galleries

SUE HAWKER A Singular Occasion

4 - 29 May 2013

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

milford galleries queenstown

9A Earl Street (03) 442 6896 qtown@milfordgalleries.co.nz

The Bride (2013) pate de verre glass, size: 535 x 380 x 320 mm

He Does (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 535 x 195 mm

Oma (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 475 x 270 mm

In the Pink (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 425 x 235 mm

Prayer Reader (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 430 x 240 mm

Portrait of Celina (2012) pate de verre glass, size: 415 x 312 x 275 mm

State of Grace (2012) pate de verre glass, size: 405 x 320 x 277 mm

Likely Lads (Red) (2013) pate de verre glass, size: 490 x 245 x 140 mm

Likely Lad pate de v

ds (Blue) (2013) verre glass, size: 430 x 200 x 143 mm

Likely Lads (Yellow) (2013) pate de verre glass, size: 450 x 200 x 140 mm

Paranymph (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 460 x 190 mm

Energy Contained (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 330 x 140 mm

Living Figment (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 450 x 275 mm

Social Butterfly (2013) pate de verre glass, size (v x Ă¸): 103 x 147 mm

With her latest exhibition A Singular Occasion, Sue Hawker continues to push the boundaries of the pâte de verre technique. Hawker speaks of this suite of works as ‘portraits’ based on actual people (1). She uses form and palette to delineate individual characters and the interactions between them. Hawker uses the visual traditions of a wedding to explore dialogues about the role of family and of the dichotomy between male and female. Large, floral vase forms in traditionally ‘feminine’ hues are cast as the female players in this ‘frozen’ theatre. The Bride evokes (through its very title) thoughts of tulle and figured satin and Hawker plays on this with her use of massed blossom shapes in translucent lemon to suggest the sweep of a veil and the train of a gown. The drama of the form sets it apart from all other works while the repetition of floral patterning and soft hue clearly links it to the other flower-bedecked ‘females’. The new columnar forms are assigned masculine roles and an element of phallocentrism can be read in their strongly defined shapes. The glittering black and upright stance of the cylinders are reminiscent of sober suits and the curved tops of the Likely Lads suggest an animated camaraderie as they lean in to one another. The pops of primary colour Hawker has used in the three works link them further, at the same time differentiating them from the groom figure, He Does. Each of Hawker’s works plays its part in this stylised ritual, their individual characters speaking to one another to create a unified whole. The works in A Singular Occasion reveal the breadth of Sue Hawker’s ability to imagine a myriad of possibilities to be explored and her technical excellence in a demanding medium enables her to turn these into realities. 1. Artist’s statement, 2013

EXHIBITION PRICELIST 1

The Bride (2013)

6,500

He Does (2013)

6,000

Oma (2013)

6,500

In the Pink (2013)

5,750

Prayer Reader (2013)

5,750

Portrait of Celina (2012)

6,500

State of Grace (2012)

6,500

Likely Lads (Red) (2013)

3,750

Likely Lads (Blue) (2013)

3,500

Likely Lads (Yellow) (2013)

3,500

Paranymph (2013)

5,750

Energy Contained (2013)

2,000

Living Figment (2013)

6,500

Social Butterfly (2013)

495

All prices are NZD and include GST; Prices are current at the time of the exhibition

SUE HAWKER b. 1948, lives Kerikeri

Connexions Group (2009/10)

"Glass is a mesmerising medium with its refractive, reflective and transparent qualities. I harness these qualities when designing and creating my forms. In fact, I create art with light itself". (1) Sue Hawker creates unique glass sculpture and has employed cast glass, etching and pâte de verre techniques in her practice to date. “Pâte de verre is an exacting technique requiring meticulous work and is often used to create fragile pieces. Sue’s piece, however, represents quite a departure from traditional pâte de verre creations.” (2) Her works are often composed of individual flowers or vines and are delivered with a celebratory, colourist’s flourish. Visual contradictions abound – the suggestive fragility of the pâte de verre style (its fragmentary, sand-grain quality) has been retained but this is an illusion, for these works have considerable structural strength. The result is works of astonishing complexity, quality and remarkable presence. Hawker’s 2013 series, A Singular Occasion is a delicate series of portraits of guests at a wedding celebration and the artist employs flower, vines, punga trunk and butterfly forms to depict a variety of characters including The Bride, He Does, Oma, Social Butterfly, Paranymph, Prayer Reader and The Likely Lads. In 2011 Hawker received the Juror’s Choice award for the New Glass Review 32 at the Corning Museum of Glass in New York and in 2010 she won the prestigious Ranamok Glass Awards with her pâte de verre work Too Much Is Never Enough. She has been a finalist in a number of other awards over the years including the Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards in 2010, 2009, 2008 & 2007, the Bombay Sapphire NZ Collection, 2007, finalist of the Wallace Art Awards in 2010 and a recipient of an Honourable Mention at the Mazda Art Glass Awards, 2007. 1. Artist Statement, 2010 2. Northtec, “Kerikeri Artist Wins Ranamok Glass Prize", The Big Idea/ Te Aria Nui, 2010 Sue Hawker 2013 CV P a g e |1

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

SUE HAWKER b. 1948, lives Kerikeri EDUCATION Selected papers, including glass sculpture, from the Bachelor of Applied Arts degree at NorthTec, Kerikeri

SOLO EXHIBITIONS 2013 2011 2008 2006

A Singular Occasion, milford galleries queenstown Florescentia, milford galleries queenstown I am….Pakeha, Milford Galleries Dunedin Woman, Pioneer Tavern, Kerikeri

GROUP EXHIBITIONS 2013 2012 2011

2010

2009

2008-2010 2008

2007

2006

2005

Focus, Glass Artists Gallery, Sydney, Australia Off the Wall, Waiheke Community Gallery, Waiheke Island 30/30, Glass Artists Gallery, Sydney, Australia Reboot, milford galleries queenstown Traverse, Milford Galleries Dunedin Collect 2011, Saatchi Gallery, London (with Glass Artists’ Gallery), England Royal Queenstown Easter Show, milford galleries queenstown Encore, Glass Artists’ Gallery, Sydney, Australia The Earl Street Journal, milford galleries queenstown Bloom, milford galleries queenstown Objec-tive, Waiheke Community Gallery Ranamok Contemporary Glass, Touring Australia Crush, Lane Gallery, Auckland Glass 09, milford galleries queenstown Two, Gravel Gallery, Kerikeri Te Iti Kahurangi, Waiheke Community Art Gallery Ranamok Contemporary Glass, Touring Australia Glass, Whakatane District Museum, Whakatane New Zealand Showcase, Hong Kong Art Centre, Hong Kong Glass Invitational NZ, touring exhibition; Canterbury Museum, Christchurch; Milford Galleries Dunedin; Lopdell House, Auckland Far North Glass Showcase”, Te Papa Store, Wellington Glass, Whakatane District Museum, Whakatane Artworks 2008, Hilton Hotel, Auckland Northern Light, Morgan Street Gallery, Auckland Open Slather, Ausglass, Canberra, Australia Luminous Objects, Tamarillo Gallery, Wellington Matariki, Whangarei Old Library Gallery, Whangarei Matariki, Copthorne Hotel, Waitangi Traces of Light, Tamarillo Gallery, Wellington The Green Exhibition, Nikau Gallery, Maharangi 18 Degrees, Geoff Wilson Gallery, Whangarei Luminous, Hilton Hotel, Auckland Illumination, Tamarillo Gallery, Wellington A Touch of Glass, Mairangi Bay Arts Centre, Auckland Cast and Pressed, Indigo Gallery, Kerikeri

AWARDS 2012 2011 2010

Finalist, Ranamok Contemporary Glass Prize Australia Finalist, Ranamok Contemporary Glass Prize Australia Jurors’ Choice, New Glass Review 32, Corning Museum of Glass, New York, USA Winner, Ranamok Glass Prize, Australia

Sue Hawker 2013 CV P a g e |2

milford galleries queenstown

www.milfordgalleries.co.nz

2009 2008 2007

Finalist, Wallace Art Awards, Auckland Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane Finalist, Ranamok Glass Prize, Australia Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane Finalist, Bombay Sapphire NZ Collection Finalist, Molly Morpeth Canaday Awards, Whakatane Honourable Mention, Mazda Art Glass Awards

BIBLIOGRAPHY 2012 2011 2010 2008 2008

Liz Caughey, “Too Much is Never Enough: Radical Steps in Reinventing Pâte de verre”, Craft Arts International, no. 86 (2012), pp 51-54. ‘Ranamok Glass’, Cairns Regional Art Gallery, Australia, 2011 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAnfaB4B2Ec> ‘Too Much Is Never Enough’, News On ABC, ABC News, 2010, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeLUlnRFzcA&feature=related> Benson, Nigel, ‘Moulding Identity’, Otago Daily Times, October 23, 2008 Carrick, Chanelle, ‘Art Seen’, Otago Daily Times, October 30, 2008

Oma (2013)

Sue Hawker 2013 CV P a g e |3

milford galleries queenstown