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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

2002PhD, School of Art, ANU, Canberra
1990Bachelor 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
(Collaboration with Tasmanian poet Adrienne Eberhard to publish The Voice of Water a collection of miniature paintings and poems)

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
Triptych, Helen Maxwell Gallery, Canberra

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