Sue Beyer
What was your first encounter with art and what was your response?
My first encounter as with art was through library books, and popular culture on television and in magazines.
I grew up on a farm in regional Queensland and never really had much of an opportunity to see art in real life until I was a teenager. In high school our art class used to go to Brisbane once a year to see the blockbuster exhibition being held at the time and I remember going to see a Pop Art exhibition at the Queensland Art Gallery.
I also used to love music videos and Countdown. Keith Haring, Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper were a huge influence on me when I was about 15 years old. I initially copied the art they made and started to make my own drawings based on their work.
Who are your art heroes and heroines and why?
I’m not sure that I have any specific art heroes.
I think all artists are pretty heroic.
You’ve recently left Queensland after an extended stay there – how has this geographical shift affected your work?
I moved to Melbourne because a lot of my artist friends lived here and I wanted to study for my MFA at the VCA. Moving down here has helped me to reset.
I have given myself permission to make work using mediums that I enjoy rather than attempting to fit in with an imaginary status quo that put restrictions on what I could make.
And… there are a lot more cultural opportunities in Melbourne.
Your latest body of work is influenced by technological interference with the image – what prompted you to move in this direction?
When I was trying to narrow down the topic to concentrate on for my research thesis I wanted to include mediums that I found most interesting. These are painting, programming, electronics and roller skating. I have been interested in the internet and computers since the 90s.
The Donna Summer version of MacArthur Park, (After - Natives on the Ouse River, Van Diemen's Land, John Glover) (2020) Synthetic polymer paint on canvas 122cm x 168cm~
The internet was so exciting back then and I learnt how to write html from scratch and I made my own websites. I love programming and electronics because I really enjoy problem solving and figuring out how to make things work.
I ended up concentrating on liminal space or, transformation and the in-between, and discovered the link programming has to Instruction-based art and popular culture.
You work between performance and painting – and the range of emotional tone in your work is great – from humorous to serious. Underpinning it all is a sense of drama. Is a theatrical approach, where the work has a performative strategy a conscious decision?
The performance work I created as part of my MFA was informed by and references the movie Xanadu (1980). The movie is a very camp roller skating musical, which as a 12 year old, was magical, and very romantic.
Sue Beyer; Performance still~(2018) image credit Sue Beyer
My skating performance made use of that idealistic and drama filled world of my younger self and celebrated that sense of wonder and magic. The movie provided that perfect connection between all the things I love and though this made the work what it is.
Sue Beyer, Performance still~(2018) image credit Sue Beyer.
My new work continues to use transformation and references paintings by well known Australian artists like Arthur Boyd. I am currently working on a series of paintings and digital works, that investigate ideas relating to arcadia and nostalgia through the transformation of well known Australian landscape paintings. With titles that reference popular 70s music lyrics, post-digital strategies are used as a metaphor for the permanent alteration and ultimate transformation of the landscape into an arcadian myth.
You have recently opened a combined studio and gallery space. How important is the social interaction between artists to your approach?
One of the main aims for Sandbox Studios was to make the space inclusive, supportive and social. I wanted the art shown in the gallery space to be of a high standard, and I’m lucky that I have had a lot of support from friends who make fantastic work, showing in the space.
The space is meant to be a place anyone interested in art can come to meet professional artists and ask questions without feeling intimidated. We run a short one hour session before each opening called, ‘Look See Think’ where anyone can come and preview the exhibition, learn how to read art and then ask the artist questions.
I also wanted the space to be a place you can catch up with other artists in an informal setting, have a beverage and talk about what you are working on and the problems you are facing with your art practice. Being an artist is quite a solitary endeavour, and I have found that being able to talk to other artists is very important. How this relates to my approach in regards to my art is that I find that my art practice is informed by personal ideas and opinions, and if I am not feeling good or my mental health is suffering I can’t make good art.
How important is the physical location?
I think it’s pretty important if you are running a business.
I wanted the studios to be easy to get to using public transport and as close as possible to the city without being too expensive. Another reason we wanted to be in Brunswick is that we have set up an artist residency in the studios. Artists can stay from 2-4 weeks in the upstairs mezzanine that houses a single caretakers live/work space. We are taking applications from artists on a rolling basis.
Why did you include a gallery space in your scheme?
The gallery space is meant to be a space for people to experiment without having the pressure of having to sell or make commercial work. I also wanted to it be as inexpensive for the artist as possible, so we host life drawing sessions in the space twice a week in an attempt to make some money to help pay the rent. In addition, the space is used by the studio artists to try new things or to document their work.
What do you see as the role of the artist run gallery in a time when the role of commercial galleries is rapidly changing?
I have always thought of artist run galleries as being a place to exhibit experimental work.
There is no pressure to make 10 of the same thing because of what your collectors want or your what your dealer can easily sell.
I think virtual galleries are great at the moment while lockdown is in place. If they are done properly they can be very effective in giving you the feeling of being there. But, seeing art in the flesh is really the only way to go, unless it’s internet art that is meant to be viewed using a browser.
https://www.suebeyer.com.au/
https://www.sandboxstudios.com.au/
Cover: Sue Beyer, after Arthur Boyd, Nebuchadnezza on fire… (detail) 2020
Synthetic polymer paint on canvas framed
25.4 x 30.5cm ~image credit: Sue Beyer.
