About Susanne

Susanne is a Swedish-New Zealand printmaker. Born in Stockholm she has lived in Auckland, New Zealand since 1978. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Auckland University, majoring in printmaking.

Susanne has exhibited widely throughout New Zealand, in both solo and group exhibitions. She is a member of the Print Council of New Zealand.

She says about her work:

“Making art gives me great pleasure and satisfaction.

I draw some of my inspiration from the colours of my birth country Sweden. The colours in Sweden are subdued, different from those in the bright sunlight in New Zealand. So to create that Nordic light matters for me, as does the wish to imbue my work with a sense of tenderness and quiet. Greys, blues, greens. Winter ice and snow.  Long summer evenings. Voices carrying across the quiet lake.

My work tools are silk screens and the printing press. I use my own drawings or photographs for imagery.

I like to experiment with a variety of printing techniques to best express what I want to say in my work. This can involve printing on surfaces other than paper, such as metal mesh, wood, silver leaf and silk organza. Sometimes I like to include words to add verbal meaning to the texture and colour of the image. It is important to me that my work communicates what I want to express and that it gives the viewer room for his or her own interpretation and imagination.

I have been printmaking now for fifteen years. It still excites me to see the print as it comes out of my printing press or from under my silkscreens. I am engaged in a never-ending quest for expression and beauty.”