Suzie Chaney is an artist living and working in the hills close to Carcassonne in Southern France. Her work has an introspective and dreamlike quality. It reflects the liminal space or margins between what we see and what we feel. She frequently uses elements of water and animals to convey our quiet and personal connections to places, experiences and all living beings. Originally from the UK with a BA (Hons) in sculpture, she also works on paper creating drawings and books.
A walk that gives cadence to memories; stepping towards the intangible; with the breath in the trembling margins of things; the past reborn in the overflow of fragrances; the contour of the invisible things; the forms of the immaterial; to deepen yourself in the intangible
— Emil Cioran, The Book of Delusions 1935
My sculptures are made of wood, plaster, clay, cloth, paper and wire. They are recognizable as people or animals, but not one that you have seen. These are creatures of the mind.
Since the dawn of humankind, we have imagined beings within natural forms. A collaboration between nature and fantasy. The flickering shadows, the thing in the corner of your eye, the creatures that exist in the margins of things; intangible and ambiguous. If you get really quiet and still, you will find them there.
My creatures have presence. They may be small in proportion but they have vitality and energy. The creation takes a lot of intuition. It is sometimes a game of modelling and demolishing, and I need to put my trust in the journey even when it’s a long one. Finally, when it is not just a body but feels alive and expressive, ready to run, swim, or raise their hands to heaven, my work is done.