Su Blackwell

Su Blackwell

Title: Wild Flowers

Media: Paper

Dimensions: 17”x12”

Date: 2006

   Brief Bio: According the biography found on her web site sublackwell.co.uk, Su Blackwell was born in Sheffield England in 1975. Blackwell started working with paper crafts in 2003 after taking a textiles class at Bradford College. She continued with an MA in Textiles at the Royal College of Art in London and worked as an artist-in-residence in schools in Scotland after graduating. In 2006, she began to grow more popular with curators in London and subsequently moved there to be closer to her exhibit opportunities. Su Blackwell Studio Ltd. followed in 2011 and has since been commissioned for several works, including works in the Commercial Sector.

   Artists/Critique statement: “Paper has been used for communication since its invention; either between humans or in an attempt to communicate with the spirit world. I employ this delicate, accessible medium and use irreversible, destructive process to reflect on the precariousness of the world we inhabit and the fragility of our life, dreams, and ambitions.” – Su Blackwell, Profile- sublackwell.co.uk

   Background on work presented: In an article found on the Bradford College website called “Creative Pathways Seminar Series- Su Blackwell”, Blackwell comments on how she brought Wildflowers to life. “After the RCA I did a residency in Scotland, working in a school and then doing projects in a country park. It was very isolated. I started cutting out flowers from the books and found the cutting out quite meditative. I liked the idea of flowers coming out and becoming alive around me, then been left to rot in the ground.”

   How it connects to the theme and why you chose the work: I chose this piece because it acts as the missing link between inspiration and action. The book and its photos were the inspiration, and the cutting and arranging is the action Su Blackwell took to create this work. Keeping with the paper garden theme, these flowers bloom from an unexpected place and should leave the viewer wondering what else could ‘sprout’ from a little seed of inspiration.