Nautilus

“I started experimenting with more shapes including geometric shapes, all made in the same way by cutting a single layer of wood and then re-assembling to create a 3D piece,” Sue says.

The Nautilus Bowl and Nautilus #2 were extensions of the series, mixing organic and geometric shapes to create a bowl and sculptural object that resonates with the eye in its mandala-like symmetry. Both were inspired by the Nautilus shell, which can be found on the south-coast of Western Australia where Sue is based.

A practising artist and curator since the late 1980s, Sue changed the direction of her work following a cancer diagnosis in 2010. Unable to continue the large-scale paintings she had built her reputation upon, Sue commenced working with papercut techniques, eventually progressing wood and laser cutting.

“There is a kind of mediative process in assembling the bowls – you have to get them just right otherwise they will be unbalanced –literally- and collapse.”

The collection is designed and made at Sue’s courtyard studio in Albany, Western Australia. Her inaugural laser cutter was delivered by crane to her property and installed by a football team.

“The bowls are cut as a series from one sheet of wood in the laser cutter, then sanded to remove the burn from the laser and to bring out the colour, and then I glue them together piece by piece and slightly offset to create the 3D effect – which is a process that could take a long time but I have developed methods that make it quite a streamlined process and less time consuming,” Sue says.

“I make these from WA jarrah timber which is an added WA feature – and I like to promote the fact that my work is all ‘Made in Western Australia,” Sue says.

The designs can be found in art galleries in Western Australia; Lawrence Wilson, The Art Gallery of Western Australia and Aspects of Kings Park and also found in each of the rooms of the QT Hotel in Perth.