Sue Vesely MA rca

My work is about the body being seen as an expression of the mind.
Seen from every angle that is physically possible, to me the surface of the body is an expressive landscape.
The pose is a mechanical structure, which is a three dimensional description of the emotional life within the mind.

We are connected below the surface of words, by a common language that is wordless.
Our minds also work with colour and imagery.
To exploit this the figure is shown in a narrative context. The composition is often constructed to give the viewer a role to play in the picture.
I intend that at a subconscious level, the very particular and natural descriptions of light on the surfaces shown in the picture, will give the viewer a sense that the narrative is about him, as he recognises that he has seen these things before, in reality.
A narrative usually forms in the mind of the viewer without any comment from me, except for the title.

I am interested in the extreme duality in thinking that uses the body as a weapon in pursuit of an idea.
There is a contradiction in the mind when the body is used as currency and as ammunition in war.
And there is duality of mind when the body is used as currency in love.

I am interested in appetites and longings, in how we confuse them and use our bodies to pursue our aims.

Presented as a statue, the body is a monument both to itself and to human thought.
I use images of statues to represent the idea of the body as a monument to itself and our culture, and images of real fleshy bodies to represent emotional life.