Sue Parry

born Torquay, England, 1963

BiographyBorn Torquay, England

Sue Parry established her studio at Ruskin Glass Centre, in Stourbridge in 2005.

Sue has a reputation for high quality imaginative studio glass. Known for her sand cast abstract sculptures, her work is strongly influenced by a childhood spent in the West Country and her love of geology and the sea.

Sue creates flowing forms which echo the material itself but are inspired from an early fascination with geological formations, and the beauty of the world we live in. Sue’s work is distinctive in the contrast between highly polished faces, and organic textures, applying layered coloured glass to create sensual, abstract forms.

Sue has exhibited her work widely, from the UK to Estonia, the Middle East and USA. In 2009 Sue held a solo show Passion and Fire in Frauenau, Germany after undertaking a prestigious month long residency at the Eisch Atelier.

In 2010 Sue was selected for the Artists Access to Arts project at Wolverhampton University. This gave her the opportunity of time and resources to explore new ideas and create a new body of work.

Geology is a long standing theme for Sue, looking at microscopic images of minerals and rocks gave her a fresh perspective. This combined with new techniques of using glass enamels on flat glass has resulted in a collection of vessels and wall panels, some with interactive elements.

The wall panels are made up of collections of glass discs, which have been hand painted. Sue has pushed the medium to create textural and subtle effects giving a three dimensional appearance. Each piece is attached using powerful magnets which enable the viewer to interact with the pieces changing the evocation, composition and colour of the work, in a playful way.

This body of work shows Sue’s use of intense colour, the contrast, light and dark, texture and polished surfaces, colour and monochrome.

Offering a meditative quality that is both calm and sparse, each element is an intense point of colour. The space, and the relationship between the pieces becoming as important as the pieces themselves.

Person TypeIndividual

Terms