Sue Fraser

I began working with clay after a serious riding accident.  Looking for something to replace equestrian sports I found clay and completed my Diploma of Ceramics at North Coast TAFE in 2003.  As a mature age student at SCU Lismore I came across an article about women horses and power which inspired me to investigate the strong affinity women and girls have for the horse. Since completing my Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2008 I have been studio based in the beautiful northern rivers of New South Wales where I make work inspired by human horse relationships.

Throughout history in many cultures the horse has been used as an agent for many areas of human experience and had been the subject of art for over 60,000 years. 

Taking history as a starting point I hand build, coiling and modelling and adding decorative elements that engage with the story of each work.  I am strongly influenced by symbolic decorative vocabulary found in the art of China and the Sculpture and social stories of the T’ang Dynasty .  

Using a variety of clay bodies, sometimes with additions, I hand build each piece using a range of surface treatments to express ideas   Shape, form, a symbolic decorative language, clay slips and oxides are all fused in the alchemy of firing processes creating individually unique sculptures.  

Horses elevate, transport and empower with their grace strength and nobility.  These attributes, and the influence the horse has had and continues to have on many women’s lives, continues to inspire my work.