Susan Abbs

Originally from Singapore, Susan has lived in the UK for nearly 30 years.

In 2012, she became the first local artist-in-residence at Orleans House Gallery in Twickenham.

She is currently working on two series of work: Daily Exercise and Skygazing.

Daily Exercise is her response to the pandemic:

I really want to react to the pandemic and how it has affected us, but in a positive way. During the pandemic, we saw more people than wildlife in the woods and parks – families out for walks as part of their daily exercise, people training their pandemic puppies, or friends jogging.  This is one positive result of the pandemic – it has brought families and friends out, together. As with most of my landscapes, activities are not always obvious. I invite my viewers to walk into my paintings to discover a family, a dog walker, rabbits etc.

Skygazing is a series of skyscapes on copper and aluminium:

Having lived in cities and been surrounded by skyscrapers most of my life, I was overwhelmed by the huge expense of sky when I first moved to Cambridge.  The spectacular daily vista has inspired me to paint this series of quiet skyscapes.  Skygazing is an escape and a reaction to the chaos and anarchy of today’s world – jingoism, terrorism, Trumpism, Brexit…

A keen Urban Sketcher, Susan can be seen drawing on locations with her iPad.  She teaches art in her studio in Cambridge as well as life drawing at Hills Road College. She has exhibited in various exhibitions and galleries, and her work can be found in the Cambridge Art Book.

Website: www.susanabbs.co.uk