Sue Lawty

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previously shown in

elements: earth fire 2020

elements: wood and metal 2020

find-make 2021

fibre: structure and surface 2022

earth materials 2023

unearthed 2023

       

​ten 2026

 

Rhythm, repetition, a limited colour palette and the austerity of working with the least number of components continue to be essential elements in Sue Lawty’s oeuvre. Lightness of touch, where every note counts, is key to her meticulous exploration of the textural character and colour qualities that are inherently given by the materials she chooses to work with – her works quietly drawing the viewer in to observe the most subtle of nuances.

 

In her stone drawing, Colour Circle, Lawty draws our attention to the barely perceptible shifts of colour found in natural sea washed stones collected from one single beach. By isolating them from the natural geological process of disintegration, these pure marks are given place, space, breath to expose the spectrum of their delicate differences.

 

In woven works the artist often uses hand-spun hemp from Nepal, every millimetre of which bears the quiet signature of each individual Nepalese spinner. Rough/ nubbly/ smooth/ thick/ thin/ tight/ loose –– the essential quality of these threads a significant contribution to the final works and a silent collaboration across time, cultures and borders.

 

A vital second alliance is with the artist and indigo dyer Jeanette Orrell in Wales. Some years ago Lawty commissioned a selection of her own studio stock of linen and hemp threads to be dyed in shades across the indigo tonal spectrum. Excited by the resulting hues and working intuitively, reading and learning how these tones may work together, Lawty continues to explore their integrity and timbre of colour in Indigo Cloth and Indigo Colour Field I – III.

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