Sue Garrard

A Residency at ComPeung will offer Ellen and Sue a unique opportunity to concentrate on the development of new ideas and work outside of their regular studio environments. Their aim during their stay would be to investigate the traditional craft culture and techniques of Thailand and use their findings to inform and potentially incorporate into their current art practices. They both feel that the cultural immersion that a residency provides will broaden and enhance their future work.

Ellen and Sue believe that an environment and landscape so different from their own will help them to engage in new ways of “seeing” with the potential to have long term impacts on the work they create.

Ellen is particularly interested in studying local flora and drawing on this imagery in her hand-cut paperworks. In keeping with her usual practice of using recycled materials, Sue also plans to collect found objects and transform them into wearable to create a narrative of place.

Both artists are keen to create collaborative work across disciplines, that draw on ideas and techniques discovered during their stay in Thailand.

My work is based around sustainable practices that involve the use of reclaimed and recycled materials. The jewellery and assemblages I make incorporate these materials and embody my environmental politics.

I work across the mediums of jewellery making, printmaking and assemblage. I work from an open studio at The JamFactory Seppeltsfield in the Barossa Valley Sth. Australia. I completed a formal arts education in 2014 but have been a maker all my life. I also teach jewellery making workshops using reclaimed materials.