sue smith: thirty-six views of castle hill

thirty-six viewsCastle HillofSue Smith

Sue Smiththirty-six viewsCastle Hillof

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery | 19 December 2014 - 15 February 2015

PublisherGallery Services

Gallery Services, Townsville City CouncilPO Box 1268Townsville Queensland, 4810 [email protected]+ 61 7 47279011

©Gallery Services, Townsville City Council and the authors 2014ISBN: 978-0-949461-02-5

Organised byGallery Services

Shane Fitzgerald Manager Gallery Services Eric Nash Curator Michael Pope Exhibitions and Collection CoordinatorRob Donaldson Digital Media and Exhibition Design CoordinatorJo Stacey Team Leader Administration Gallery Services Holly Grech-Fitzgerald Collections Management OfficerCarly Sheil Digital Media and Exhibition Design OfficerSarah Welch Public Art Officer Alex Shapley Exhibitions OfficerTegan Ollett Education and Programs Officer Jess Cuddihy Education and Programs Assistant Wendy Bainbridge Administration OfficerGillian Ribbins Administration Officer Danielle Berry Arts OfficerMichelle Littman Gallery AssistantPatricia Dunn Gallery AssistantDamian Cumner Gallery AssistantRurik Henry Gallery Assistant

ContactGallery Services

Published on the occasion of

Project ManagerShane Fitzgerald

Exhibition CuratorsEric Nash and Sue Smith

Publication Design and DevelopmentEric Nash

AcknowledgementsGallery Services would like to acknowledge the efforts of the artist, Sue Smith, her husband Michael Walker, and Townsville City Council in realising this exhibition and the supporting publication.

Cover ImageSue Smith Zen tide, Pallarenda Beach [detail] 2013, oil and acrylic on canvas, 61 x 183 cm (diptych)

Castle HillofSue Smith

thirty-six views

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery 19 December 2014 - 15 February 2015

(07) 4727 9011 [email protected] www.townsville.qld.gov.au @TCC_PercTucker PercTuckerTCC

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Cnr. Denham and Flinders StTownsville QLD 4810Mon - Fri: 10am - 5pmSat - Sun: 10am - 2pm

ContentsForeword 7Shane FitzgeraldMANAGER, GALLERY SERVICES

The Impossibly Sublime 9Eric NashCURATOR, GALLERY SERVICES

Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill 15Sue SmithARTIST

Curriculum Vitae 34

Works 38

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ForewordIn Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill former Townsville resident and central Queensland artist, Sue Smith, has developed a superb body of work that explores a contemporaneous narrative of not only the iconic monolith but also the ever-transient human experience that surrounds it.

Although Townsville’s iconic landmark situated in the city’s centre has long been the source of inspiration for artists since the region was declared a municipality in 1866, Smith guides us on a very different journey where subtle glimpses of the subject can be “found” amongst carefully constructed dialogues referencing our history, our influences and our continuing socio-political trends.

The exhibition is more than a mere reference and homage to Katsushika Hokusai’s much loved and admired series of Mt Fuji. Smith has emboldened the visual narrative with constructed perspectives that slip between surrealism and traditional landscape representations that powerfully arrest and captivate the viewer. Her works serve to remind us of our geographical position within the world whilst simultaneously beguiling us with almost “picture-perfect” glimpses into the “north Queensland lifestyle”.

It is appropriate that this major exhibition of Smith’s work has been developed in partnership with the artist and showcased at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.

Not due simply to the obvious references to the Townsville idiom but more-so as it provides and demonstrates the important ways in which public galleries provide exhibition opportunities for artists, particularly those working within the arts in their own regions.

Smith continues to delicately balance the demanding roles of artist and arts worker in an industry that often requires complete devotion to either one or the other. In this Smith is to be commended and congratulated. After decades of selfless activity in the development of artists, galleries and communities it is fitting and deeply satisfying to be provided with an opportunity to pay my respects and convey my admiration to Smith as a colleague and friend.

On behalf of Gallery Services and with deep personal affection I congratulate Sue Smith on Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill. The exhibition is a remarkable achievement and a poignant reminder of what is important. I would also like to acknowledge the support of Michael Walker, Eric Nash and Rob Donaldson whom have provided their expertise and professionalism to this project.

Shane FitzgeraldMANAGER, GALLERY SERVICES

OPPOSITE:Sue SmithImprobable event management 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cm

Sue Smith | Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill

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Perc Tucker Regional Gallery

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The Impossibly SublimeIn Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill, central Queensland-based artist Sue Smith delights viewers with a new take on Townsville’s most recognisable natural landmark.

Having lived and worked in Townsville for a short time, Smith developed an affinity with ‘the Hill’; a love affair residents would identify with as Castle Hill is truly many things to many people.

For the region’s traditional custodians, Cutheringa is a site steeped in history and tradition. For the city’s large military population, the Hill will forever hold some significance, having been used as an observations and communications outpost during World War II. For locals and tourists alike, a trip to the summit will fully unveil the breathtaking beauty of our city.

For a time, the Hill attracted diners, and is now a beacon for hordes of residents trying to keep in shape. Having dominated the city’s skyline since long before recorded history, Castle Hill has been present through dramatic changes to the landscape. It has witnessed and featured significantly in our local history - with no more obvious example than the story of how seven James Cook University students abseiled the Hill to paint ‘the Saint’, which in itself has become a much-

loved local icon. For all these reasons and more, Castle Hill has over the years become a source of inspiration for many of Townsville’s artists, with Sue Smith now joining this proud tradition.

Smith’s exhibition underlines the importance of Castle Hill to Townsville by depicting the numerous people who engage with it, and celebrating the landmark itself as an ever-present observer in our varied lives. The works include studies of our natural surrounds, our built urban environment, and also insights into our shared human condition.

Drawing on an extensive knowledge of fine art history developed over many years working in the industry and a keen interest in politics and current events, Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill also presents the wickedly absurd and the impossibly sublime. Smith creates devilishly humorous events that are grounded in real events and real emotions, but are given flight by her healthy imagination and belief that serious topics can be broached with a dose of levity.

Smith’s paintings, particularly those depicting the built urban environment, draw some technical comparison to the works of celebrated artist Jeffrey Smart.

OPPOSITE (L-R):Sue SmithIn the ocean, the silence moves and moves I 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 61 cm

Sue Smith In the ocean, the silence moves and moves II 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 61 cm


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LEFT:Sue SmithTea for ten 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 51 x 40 cm


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Thoughts of Matthew Quick’s surreal Pure series, in which he finely balances realist depictions of gorgeous cloudscapes and absurd flying objects such as campervans and hanging bird cages, are also prompted, particularly by works such as Till human voices wake us.

While we chuckle at some of these unlikely events, we are also drawn to extend our consideration of what is actually happening, and what Smith is trying to convey. For works with poignant social messages, such as CATS (Climate Action Taskforce Scenario), this is a considered device by the artist. And given the position of our Federal Government at the recent G20 Summit in Brisbane, meaningful action on climate change has probably never before seemed more like herding cats.

Sue Smith can feel proud of her exhibitionThirty-six Views of Castle Hill. Through the use of Castle Hill as a unifying motif, the artist is able to connect people from all walks of life, and give viewers pause to both smile, and think.

Eric NashCURATOR, GALLERY SERVICES

ABOVE:Sue SmithCATS (Climate Action Taskforce Scenario) 2014acrylic on canvas 122.5 x 91.3 cm


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Thirty-six Views of Castle HillBrisbane is my home town, but I have also travelled a fair bit and lived in London and regional Queensland (at the Capricorn Coast and Townsville and currently in Rockhampton). The idea for this exhibition began when I was living in Townsville; I enjoyed the way Castle Hill kept popping up as I was moving around the city in my daily routines.

In general, my work grows out of my small town, country and big city experiences and is concerned with time, attentiveness, the sea, the wind and birds, people, emotions, Eastern and Western culture, politics and social criticism. I feel some affinity with surrealist and magical realist art; my own work is planned and anchored in the everyday, but it does contain elements that are unusual and inexplicable. For me, these strange elements seem to halt the viewer and not only suggest an experience but prompt it, inviting him or her to step into the place of imagining. In order to express my awareness of this world and worlds beyond adequately but in terms relevant to the broader human condition, I often marry images from photographs with memories and

imaginings, as well as with ideas from art, politics, films, poetry, conversations and music. I am also interested in the tension between representation and abstraction and try to structure compositions with strong patterns and colour and sensuous brushwork, again, partly to encourage more concentrated looking by the viewer. I prefer to paint in a studio space rather than in the open air.

The title and broad concept of the Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill series alludes to the 18th century Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai’s famous woodblock prints of Mount Fuji. The fact that Hokusai’s intention was to depict his mountain from many different perspectives was interesting to me: his project suggests that in order to understand something (a place, or a people) you need to look at it from as many different angles as possible. This idea, in contrast to the notion that there is only one way of knowing something, became evident to me as I progressed with the series.

PREVIOUS:Sue SmithZen tide, Pallarenda Beach 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 61 x 183 cm (diptych)

OPPOSITE:Sue SmithDreaming of Hokusai 2014acrylic on canvas 60 x 90 cm


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Dreaming of Hokusai pays homage to the Japanese master as well as to Townsville’s ongoing interest in outdoor art of all kinds. In Hokusai’s day, Fuji was visible across Tokyo and ordinary townspeople (then as now) made pilgrimages to climb the sacred mountain. Castle Hill’s Aboriginal place name is Cutheringa, though its Indigenous spiritual history to my knowledge has not been recorded. Nevertheless, like Fuji, Castle Hill is an iconic landmark dominating a city skyline and is cherished by locals who walk up it for exercise and study its natural environment, and enjoyed by tourists who take in the views from its summit. The Japanese theme also seemed pertinent for my exhibition given Townsville’s historical associations with Japan, referred to in Kardinia and Kawanishis. Kardinia, a colonial house at 11 Victoria Street, was Australia’s first Japanese consulate from 1896 to 1908. Decades later during World War II, in late July 1942, Japanese Kawanishi flying boats dropped bombs in three air raids on the harbour and town.

A few other pictures in the exhibition are laden with social and political commentary. Talisman Saber 2013, for example, is a sober work referring to the biennial international military exercises that take place in the region and acknowledges Townsville’s important role as a military base. Other pictures have a satirical bent — I believe that painting can be serious and comic at the same time, formal yet free.

Time watches politics decline into hubris or vanity in the portrait of the ebullient Queensland senator, Chairman Clive and in CATS (Climate Action Taskforce Scenario). The latter painting came about after the thought occurred

that the perfect metaphor for the chaotic and ineffectual response of grandstanding politicians to climate change was a scenario of herding cats.

Death of the Saint – the lamentation is a response to suggestions from friends that the series should include the large graffiti symbol on Castle Hill (painted, as many viewers would be aware, by university students as a prank in 1962). The picture came to life as I pondered what, if any, relevance this stick figure logo from TV-land of yesteryear had to people today and who would care if it was removed (apparently an unlikely prospect) — perhaps its disappearance would trigger an enthusiastic 1960s-style protest!

Leaving these half-dozen specific socio-political pictures aside, the bulk of the works in Thirty-six Views of Castle Hill address universal themes in a parallel-universe Townsville. The aim is not so much to create a “true” portrait of the city, rather to explore emotional truths of inner being and outer experience. Castle Hill, ever present, functions as an enduring and stable presence contrasting with the transience of nature and human experience, whether the pink granite monolith is depicted looming above mobile skateboarders and swimmers, or is sometimes a tiny detail on the horizon above the Coral Sea, or glimpsed between fuel tanks, high-rise buildings or the ropes of a yacht, or is seen piercing the sky above trees, parks and suburban backyards.


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People and their problems and emotions feature in such works as Improbable event management, The Buzz, Our precarious point in space is not forever, Looking in the shadows, I see you, baby and Escaping gravity I, II and III. These pictures variously address the notion that we are vulnerable and pitiable beings. Dissatisfaction and a yearning to step off the treadmill of boring, dreary existence lead us into reckless or narcissistic behaviour. We are beset by loneliness, anxiety and worries, sometimes petty or unreal. There are also external problems of varying degrees of probable occurrence — from accidents and natural disasters to acts of terrorism, cancer and deadly viruses — which we can’t control and which may strike us down at any moment. It has been suggested that anxiety is fundamental to the human condition, not only because there are real threats to us as inherently fragile organisms, but also because we modern suburbanites still have embedded in our DNA the atavistic fears of our primitive ape-like ancestors who spent their lives evading being torn apart by wild beasts on the savannah.

Anxiety is inevitable, and while humour helps to keep it in perspective, the point of the above pictures isn’t simply to make people laugh or despair, rather to suggest that anxieties and other distractions eat up a great deal of our energies and direct our focus away from what really matters. In this respect, my pictures have something in common with the long European tradition of memento mori artworks, which often featured a skull or an hour glass, and which were created to remind viewers of death and the need to direct their lives, whether short or long, to meaningful pursuits.

Another way to look at this issue is to acknowledge that what we anxious people truly desire is respite and calm, which might perhaps be found in losing oneself in the richness of nature or in aspects of the manmade world or work which we find fulfilling. The exhibition features a number of calm pictures in which attentiveness and time address each other, such as A little hope, a little whimsy and the pair of paintings In the ocean, the silence moves I and II.

RIGHT:Sue SmithEscaping gravity III 2014acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cm


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The middle-aged man flying a kite at Pallarenda Beach and the women ship passengers observing the rolling waves and sea birds, seem intensely attentive to their natural surroundings, appreciative that phenomena like sunsets, the sea and flights of kites and birds are — like our lives — beautiful, ever-changing and fleeting. The transience of life is heartbreaking, but it is also what makes every moment precious. Such pictures are partly inspired by Japanese poetry and paintings in which short-lived cherry and plum tree blossoms are the object of bittersweet poetic adoration, symbols of the transience of existence.

In a similar way, Happiness like a white bird, quietly descending (inspired by Townsville Common) and Clear against the blue (Castle Hill is seen from Magnetic Island), Zen tide, Pallarenda Beach and Reflections also exude a mood of contemplative harmony with natural surroundings. They invite the viewer to detach from the burdens of the self (one’s petty problems and circumstances) and to concentrate, just for a minute or two, on the simple delights of everyday natural beauty we sometimes overlook: the way the tide eddies around rocks on the beach creating patterns resembling a Zen Buddhist raked dry garden, the beauty of the bush, sea and waterways.

A quite different set of values is represented in two pictures representing industrial settings. Our precarious point in space is not forever depicts the fuel tanks near Townsville’s port facilities and Clap of thunder, a semi roaring past shows a cyclist and semi-trailer in Kelli Street, in an industrial estate. At first sight, these are

unlikely subjects for art, yet, for me, the huge cylindrical fuel tanks and the coloured cubes of containers and sheds, like other elements in industrial landscapes, have their own strong visual appeal and poetry.

A Japanese observer might say these scenes have qualities of wabi-sabi. Wabi means simplicity and sabi is an appreciation of the imperfect; together the term refers to a taste for the pared down, the authentic, the undecorated and the humble, such as earthy tea ceremony pots. I also feel a poignant sense of the transience of life in the title and imagery of the work featuring the man walking on the power lines; while the haiku-like title, Clap of thunder, a semi roaring past, asks the viewer to feel the drama of and imagine the sounds and smells of the approaching thunder storm and truck.

Moving on to settings of public and private pleasure, Mexican wave, depicting swimmers at the Rock pool, Sisters, set in Queen’s Gardens, Every exultant sense, depicting a swimmer at Nobby’s Headland, Magnetic Island, the backyard scene, The clothes hoist is not a swing, the quirky picture Tea for ten, and the “water” pictures Sailing home, Ross Creek, Floating, dreaming and A dog’s joy are all simply pictures about enjoying being in the moment, being content with our own company and the company of friends and family, and being attuned to the simple things life has to offer: fine weather, playing in the garden, swimming, boating, picnics.

Sue SmithARTIST

OPPOSITE:Sue SmithKardinia and Kawanishis 2014acrylic on canvas 61 x 91.5 cm


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LEFT:Sue SmithFloating, dreaming 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cm


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ABOVE:Sue SmithEvery exultant sense 2014acrylic on canvas 41 x 101.5 cm (triptych)


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LEFT:Sue SmithA dog’s joy 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cm

OPPOSITE:Sue SmithReflections 2014acrylic on canvas 91.7 x 122 cm


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LEFT:Sue SmithA little hope, a little whimsy 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cm

OPPOSITE:Sue SmithClear against the blue 2014acrylic on canvas 60.8 x 91.8 cm


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PREVIOUS:Sue SmithHappiness like a white bird, quietly descending 2014acrylic on canvas 61 x 183 cm (diptych)

OPPOSITE:Sue SmithSisters 2014acrylic on canvas 41 x 61 cm (diptych)

RIGHT:Sue SmithThe buzz 2014acrylic on canvas 40.6 x 50.6 cm (diptych)


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PREVIOUS:Sue SmithDeath of the Saint – the lamentation 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 65.8 cm (diptych)

LEFT:Sue SmithOur precarious point in space is not forever 2013acrylic on canvas 91 x 123 cm


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ABOVE:Sue SmithClap of thunder, a semi roaring past 2014acrylic on canvas 40 x 79.6 cm


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Curriculum VitaeSue Smith is an artist, curator and writer. She completed her Bachelor of Arts at the University of Queensland and Master of Arts at the Courtauld Institute of Art, London, and studied visual arts at the Queensland College of Art and CQ Institute of TAFE.

Smith’s work has been shown in regional galleries in Queensland and is represented in the CQUniversity Art Collection and private collections. She currently lives in Rockhampton and is working as Art Collection Manager, CQUniversity Australia and on her painting projects.

RIGHT:Sue SmithTill human voices wake us 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cm


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RIGHT:Sue SmithChairman Clive 2014acrylic on canvas 59.5 x 89.5 cm

ABOVE:Sue SmithTalisman Saber 2013 2014acrylic on canvas 25.5 x 92 cm


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WorksCATS (Climate Action Taskforce Scenario) 2014acrylic on canvas 122.5 x 91.3 cmDreaming of Hokusai 2014acrylic on canvas 60 x 90 cmZen tide, Pallarenda Beach 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 61 x 183 cm (diptych)Happiness like a white bird, quietly descending 2014acrylic on canvas 61 x 183 cm (diptych)Our precarious point in space is not forever 2013acrylic on canvas 91 x 123 cmReflections 2014acrylic on canvas 91.7 x 122 cmA little hope, a little whimsy 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cm

Improbable event management 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cmEscaping gravity I 2014acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cmEscaping gravity II 2014acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cmEscaping gravity III 2014acrylic on canvas 91 x 91 cmIn the ocean, the silence moves and moves I 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 61 cmIn the ocean, the silence moves and moves II 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 91.5 x 61 cmClear against the blue 2014acrylic on canvas 60.8 x 91.8 cm

Kardinia and Kawanishis 2014acrylic on canvas 61 x 91.5 cmChairman Clive 2014acrylic on canvas 59.5 x 89.5 cmEvery exultant sense 2014acrylic on canvas 41 x 101.5 cm (triptych)Waiting 2014acrylic on canvas 45.7 x 91.2 cmClap of thunder, a semi roaring past 2014acrylic on canvas 40 x 79.6 cmLooking in the shadows 2014acrylic on canvas 51 x 61 cm (triptych)Reverie 2014oil and acrylic on canvas 59 x 50.3 cm


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Sisters 2014acrylic on canvas 41 x 61 cm (diptych)The buzz 2014acrylic on canvas 40.6 x 50.6 cm (diptych)Mexican wave 2014acrylic on canvas 40.3 x 50.8 cm (diptych)Tea for ten 2013oil and acrylic on canvas 51 x 40 cm Film noir 2014 acrylic on canvas 51 x 40 cmTalisman Saber 2013 2014acrylic on canvas 25.5 x 92 cmThe clothes hoist is not a swing 2014acrylic on canvas 26 x 81.5 cm (diptych)Death of the Saint – the lamentation 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 65.8 cm (diptych)

Late afternoon storm 2014 acrylic on canvas 25.2 x 50.3 cmSeaward, Ross Creek 2014acrylic on canvas 25 x 50.7 cmI see you, baby 2014acrylic on canvas 20.5 x 51 cm (diptych)Floating, dreaming 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cmA dog’s joy 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cmTill human voices wake us 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cm Sailing home, Ross Creek 2014acrylic on canvas 30 x 30 cm

sue smith: thirty-six views of castle hill

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