Sue Lovegrove is a contemporary visual artist based in Tasmania, Australia.
Sues's paintings and miniature works on paper reflect her passion for the natural environment, in particular the wild and remote landscapes of south west Tasmania, where she has spent significant periods of time. Often shifting between representational and abstract imagery, she investigates the intersections between land, air and water through close observation and sensory perception including sight, sound and touch. Her primary concern is with interpreting the transience of the natural world - the shifting patterns of life, as well as the invisible and temporal phenomena of the wind and weather and how it imprints on our bodies and the landscape. For Sue, painting is not just about looking at landscapes but experiencing them and being touched by them. Its allowing the self to be changed by experiences of places.
Sue's paintings are subtle and emotionally evocative. The exquisitely delicate surfaces, created from fields of tiny lines over many layers of subtle washes, evoke rhythms and patterns of movement. In all her work Sue harnesses the energy of place - the sounds and life and the cycle of emergence and retreat to create works that are seemingly fleeting but vibrantly present.
Sue has held over 30 solo exhibitions throughout Australia and her work is held in numerous private and public collections including: the National Gallery of Australia, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, University of Canberra and the Macquarie Bank to name a few.
In 2020, Sue was awarded the Elaine Bermingham National Watercolour Prize for Landscape and in 2018 she received an Australia Council Grant to publish The Voice of Water, with Tasmanian poet Adrienne Eberhard. Sue has undertaken numerous residencies including an Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship in 2003 to visit Antarctica and Macquarie Island and in 2006 an Arts Tasmania Wilderness residency to spend 2 months on Maatsuyker Island. In 2015 she studied Persian miniature painting in London.
CV
Personal Details
Currently living and working in Lutruwita, (Tasmania).
Education
| 2002 | PhD, School of Art, ANU, Canberra |
| 1990 | Bachelor of Arts (Visual) major in painting, School of Art, ANU, Canberra |
Professional Experience
2023 | Currently full time artist |
2012-2020 | Sessional Lecturer Drawing Studio, School of Creative Arts and Media, University of Tasmania |
2012 | Visiting artist, Painting workshop, School of Art, ANU, Canberra |
1999-2002 | Lecturer in Visual Art, University of Wollongong, New South Wales |
1993-2000 | Sessional Lecturer, Painting Workshop, School of Art, ANU, Canberra |
1997 | Lecturer and coordinator of painting studio, Faculty of Fine Arts, Northern Territory University, Darwin, NT |
Awards and Grants
2022 | Finalist, Korean Australian Art Foundation Prize, Sydney |
Finalist, Hadleys Art Prize, Hobart | |
Finalist, Alice Prize, Alice Springs, NT | |
Finalist, RANT Womens art Prize, Tasmania | |
2021 | Finalist, Bay of Fires Art Prize |
2020 | Winner, Elaine Bermingham Watercolour Prize, Griffith University |
Finalist, RANT Womens Art Prize, Tasmania | |
Finalist, Paul Guest Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery | |
2018 | Australia Council Grant |
2017 | Highly Commended Award, Hadley’s Art Prize, Hobart |
Vice Chancellors Award for Community Engagement, Clemente Program, University of Tasmania | |
Teaching Merit Certificate Award, University of Tasmania | |
2014 | Teaching Merit Certificate Award, University of Tasmania |
2007 | Finalist Prometheus Art Award, Brisbane |
2006 | Arts Tasmania Natural and Cultural Heritage Grant, (Maatsuyker Island) |
Finalist Robert Jacks Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria | |
2005 | Finalist and Highly Commended Award ANL Maritime Art Prize, Melbourne |
2004 | Finalist Flemming Muntz Albury Art Prize, Albury Regional Art Gallery, Victoria |
Finalist Blake Prize, touring exhibition, ACU Gallery Sydney, Melbourne | |
2003 | Finalist McGivern Art Prize, Maroondah Art Gallery, Victoria |
Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship | |
2002 | Canberra Critics Circle Award |
2001 | ANU Postgraduate Award, PhD Scholarship |
Finalist Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Queensland | |
Finalist Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Northern Territory | |
2000 | Finalist Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, Grafton Regional Gallery touring regional galleries of New South Wales and Queensland throughout 2001 |
New Research Grant, University of Wollongong | |
1998 | Finalist National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery, Victoria |
Finalist Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Northern Territory | |
Finalist Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Queensland | |
Arts ACT Professional Development Grant | |
1994 | Winner, Broken Hill Art Prize |
Collections
ACT Legislative Assembly, Canberra, ACT
Artbank, Sydney, New South Wales
Artemisia Collection, Tasmania
Australian Conservation Foundation, Victoria
Broken Hill City Art Gallery, New South Wales
Bundanon Trust, New South Wales
Canberra Hospital, ACT
Canberra Museum and Gallery, Canberra, ACT
Derwent Collection, Tasmania
EASS Loans Collection, ANU, Canberra, ACT
Grafton Regional Gallery, New South Wales
Hyatt Hotel, Melbourne, Victoria
Holmes a Court collection, Western Australia
Island Collection, Tasmania
KPMG, Canberra, ACT
Macquarie Bank, Melbourne, Victoria
Maatsuyker Collection, Tasmania
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra, ACT
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria
Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra, ACT
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart, Tasmania
University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT
Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, Tasmania
Solo Exhibitions
2024 | Water Sky, Gallerysmith, Melbourne |
2023 | Slow Water, Beaver Galleries, Canberra |
The Invisible Lake, Bett Gallery, Hobart | |
2022 | The River Flows Through You, Gallerysmith, Melbourne |
2021 | Waterholes and Wetlands, Beaver Galleries, Canberra |
2020 | Surfacing, Bett Gallery, Hobart |
Air and Water, Project Space, Bett Gallery Hobart | |
2019 | Shimmer, Beaver Galleries, Canberra |
2018 | The Memory of Water, Gallerysmith, Melbourne |
2016 | The Book of Trees, Beaver Galleries, Canberra |
In a Strange Land, Bett Gallery Hobart | |
2015 | Cloud Lake, Gallerysmith, Melbourne |
2014 | Nest, Beaver Galleries, Canberra |
Writing the Sky, Bett Gallery Hobart | |
2013 | Cloud Memory, Gallerysmith, Melbourne |
2012 | Windwalking, Bett Gallery Hobart |
2011 | Glimpse, Gallerysmith, Melbourne |
2010 | Still Light, Beaver Galleries, Canberra |
The Shape of the Wind, Bett Gallery, Hobart | |
2009 | Grasses, Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne |
2008 | Walk With Me, Paintings from Southern Tasmania, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
2007 | Maatsuyker, Island of the Mind, Bett Gallery, Hobart |
2006 | Vanishing, Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra |
2005 | Vanishing, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
2004 | In pursuit of clouds, Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra |
2002 | To hear the earth breathe, (part 3), Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
To hear the earth breathe, (part 2), Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra | |
To hear the earth breathe, (part 1), Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra | |
1998 | Between Worlds, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
1996 | Aediculae, aGOG (australian Girls Own Gallery), Canberra |
1995 | From the shadow of a mountain, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
From the shadow of a mountain, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide | |
1994 | In the shadows, aGOG (australian Girls Own Gallery), Canberra |
1992 | The unswept floor, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
1990 | Wall paintings... from the other side, Photospace Gallery, Canberra School of Art, Canberra |
Selected Group Exhibitions
2022 | Korean Australian Art Foundation Prize, Sydney |
Watershed, Bett Gallery Hobart | |
Hadleys Art Prize, Hobart | |
RANT Womens Art Prize, QVMAG, Launceston | |
Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, NT | |
Sydney Contemporary, Art Fair Sydney | |
2021 | Reflection/Submersion, Janet Holmes a Court Gallery, WA |
2020 | Elaine Bermingham National Watercolour Prize for Landscape, Webb Gallery, Griffith University, Qld. |
RANT Womens Art Prize, Tasmania | |
Paul Guest Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery | |
2017 | Hadleys Art Prize, Hobart |
Speaking of History, Bett Gallery Hobart | |
Poets and Painters, Moonah Arts Centre, Hobart | |
Abstraction: celebrating Australian women abstract artists, NGA touring exhibition, Geelong Gallery, QUT Art Museum | |
2015 | Under Kunanyi, Bett Gallery, Hobart |
Urban Suburban, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Canberra | |
Exquisite, Henry Jones Art Hotel, Hobart | |
2014 | Biophilia, Beaver Galleries, Canberra |
2013 | Poets and Painters, Bett Gallery, Hobart |
2011 | Van Diemen's Land: Tasmanian Artists in the UK, Celia Lendis Contemporary, UK |
25 Years, An Unfolding Journey, Bett Gallery, Hobart | |
2010 | A Generosity of Spirit, QUT Art Museum, Brisbane and Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art, Adelaide |
This Way Up, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra | |
Three women paint the landscape, Damien Minton Gallery, Sydney | |
Autumn Collection, James Makin Gallery, Melbourne | |
2009 | Transcending Surfaces, Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra |
Flower Show, Brenda May Gallery, Sydney | |
2008 | The View from Here II, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
Bias Bound, Victorian Tapestry Workshop, Melbourne | |
2007 | Intimate and Distant Landscapes, Devonport Regional Gallery, Tasmania |
Prometheus Art Award, Brisbane | |
2006 | Salon, Bett Gallery, Hobart |
Robert Jacks Drawing Prize, Bendigo Art Gallery, Victoria | |
Senses of Place, Plimsoll Gallery, Tasmanian School of Art, Tasmania | |
Picture This, Canberra School of Art Gallery, ANU and VCA Gallery, Melbourne | |
2005 | ANL Maritime Art Prize, Melbourne |
Looking South, Plimsoll Gallery, University of Tasmania, Hobart | |
2004 | Flemming Muntz Albury Art Prize, Albury Regional Art Gallery, Victoria |
Blake Prize, touring exhibition, ACU Gallery Sydney and Melbourne | |
2003 | McGivern Art Prize, Maroondah Art Gallery, Victoria |
Distant Noises, RMIT Gallery, Victoria | |
2002 | Melbourne International Art Fair, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne |
2001 | Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Queensland |
Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Northern Territory | |
2000 | Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award, Grafton Regional Gallery touring regional galleries of New South Wales and Queensland throughout 2001 |
1999 | Australian Drawing Biennale, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth and the University Art Museum, University of Queensland |
1998 | Australian Drawing Biennale, Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra |
National Works on Paper, Mornington Peninsular Regional Gallery, Victoria | |
Alice Prize, Araluen Arts Centre, Alice Springs, Northern Territory | |
Conrad Jupiters Art Prize, Gold Coast Arts Centre, Queensland | |
1997 | Canberra Contemporary Art Fair, Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra |
Winter Light, australian Girls Own Gallery, Canberra | |
Painting Alumni, Photospace Gallery, Canberra School of Art, Canberra | |
1996 | ACAF 5, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne, Victoria |
Speculations 1, ANCA Gallery, Canberra | |
A Matter of Making, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra | |
1995 | Works on Paper, Christine Abrahams Gallery, Melbourne |
Canberra Contemporary Art Fair, Drill Hall Gallery, Canberra | |
City of Hobart Art Prize, Hobart City Council, Hobart | |
1994 | Broken Hill Art Prize, Broken Hill City Art Gallery, New South Wales |
Home is Where the Art is, Artspace, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide | |
ACAF4, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne | |
1992 | ACAF3, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne |
1990 | Sites Unseen One, Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Canberra |
Stand By, Canberra School of Art Gallery, Canberra |
Residencies
2015 | London, study of Persian miniature painting |
2012 | Visiting Artist, School of Art, ANU, Canberra |
2011 | Tasman Island, Tasmania |
2008 | Victorian Tapestry Workshop residency |
2007 | Arts Tasmania Wilderness residency, Maatsuyker Island |
2004 | Australian Antarctic Division Arts Fellowship, Antarctica and Macquarie Island |
2001 | ‘Bundanon’ Arthur Boyd’s studio, Nowra, New South Wales |
Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment, Alice Springs, Northern Territory | |
2000 | Ngukurr, SE Arnhem Land, printmaking project with University of Wollongong |
1997 | Visiting artist, Northern Territory University, Darwin, Northern Territory |
Bibliography
Grishin, S. Water Works Invite Contemplation, Canberra Times, March 20, 2023
Harper, A. Remembering a Jewel, Mercury, tas Weekend, 17 September, 2022
Grishin, S. Enchanting and Haunting Beauty, Canberra Times, 10 April, 2021
Grishin, S. Depicting Shimmers of light on water, Canberra Times, 22 August, 2019
Burden, H. There’s Plenty in Reserve, Mercury, Oct 22, 2017
Poets and Painters, Exhibition Catalogue, 2017
Harper, A. Speaking Volumes, Mercury, 26 August, 2017
Burden, H. Double Vision, Mercury, 2 September, 2017
Grishin, S. In Praise of Great Trees, Canberra Times, 4 November, 2016
What Now, Art Collector Issue 78, 2016
Grishin, S. Nesting Impulses, Canberra Times, 4 July 2014
Cousins, K-A. Inspired by Nature, Canberra Times, 25 September, 2014
Hay, P., Shape of the Wind, Pattern and chaos in Sue Lovegrove's Island Art, Artlink, Vol 32 No1, 2012
Grishin,S., 'Worlds of their own', Canberra Times, 15 November, 2010
Hawthorne, L., ‘The Shape of Wind’, Artlink, vol. 30, no. 2, 2010
Rainbird, S., A Generosity of Spirit, exhibition catalogue, 2010
Holmes, J., Intimate and Distant Landscapes, exhibition catalogue, 2007
Holmes, J., Senses of Place, exhibition catalogue, 2006
Elkins, J. (ed), ‘The PhD in studio art’, Printed Project, iss. 04, 2005
Zika, P., Looking South, exhibition catalogue, 2005
Grishin, S., ‘Artist like an archaeologist, excavating memory’s traces’, Canberra Times, 14 May, 2004
Barron, S., ‘Lyrical abstractions go beyond the usual’, Canberra Times, 3 April, 2002
Maxwell, H., Sue Lovegrove in the Australian Drawing Biennale, Drill Hall Gallery, 1998
McFarlane, J., ‘Between’, in Between Worlds, exhibition catalogue, 1998
Clabburn, A., ‘A talented defence’, The Age, 8 July, 1998
O’Heir, A., ‘Aediculae, an invitation to silence’, Muse Magazine, no. 158, February, 1997
Grishin, S., ‘Mood, Memory and Sensuality’, Canberra Times, 27 November, 1996
Gates, M., ‘The Materiality of Memory’, A Matter of Making, CSA Gallery, 1996
Philp, A (ed), ANCA 1996 Australian National Capital Artists Inc and Canberra Museum and Gallery
O'Hehir, A., ‘Speculations 1 & 2’, Muse Magazine, no. 156, 1996
Neylon, J., ‘Antidote’, Adelaide Review, March, 1996
Dutkiemicz, A., ‘A touch of the orient’, Advertiser, March 10, 1996
‘Winner shows technical Prowess’, Broken Hill News, 2 December, 1994
Grishin, S., ‘Fragments of an Ephemeral Past Life’, Canberra Times, 5 March, 1994
Cousins, K-A., ‘In the shadows’, Muse Magazine, no. 129, 1994
Musa, H., ‘Siva the Cosmic Dancer’, Canberra Times, 31 July, 1993