Suzie Riley

Rooted in the wild, windswept landscapes of South Australia’s coastal and rural terrain, Suzie Riley’s ‘Familiar Ground’ is a lyrical reckoning with place. Each of Riley’s four oil on board paintings channels the textures of a world she knows deeply: salt-stung headlands, scrub-dappled hills, and the mutable light that sweeps across both sea and soil.

Raised on a farm in the South East and shaped by summers spent in a converted double-decker bus–turned–beach shack, Riley’s practice is inseparable from her environment. Now based on the Fleurieu Peninsula, she walks daily with a sketchbook, using this time to observe the landscape. “It provides an opportunity for me to notice seasonal changes, patterns of foliage, or sunlight and shadow,” she says. “I watch the weather like a hawk and mark the best spots to come back and paint, using pastel or gouache to make quick studies.”

“Then I take these back to the studio and use them as seeds. I’m never concerned with making a good painting outside (though sometimes I do), but rather capturing what it was that drew me to the scene: a colour, a line, a wave, or cloud. Usually I play with various compositions in pastel to explore colour or tonal strength before committing to paint. These sketches give me an entry to the work, but very soon paint takes over and I’m lost in responding to its demands.”

Riley favours wood as a painting surface: “The hard surface is durable enough to withstand rigorous scratching and enscribing but allows me to paint a smooth line. I usually begin with a series of transparent washes. The earth tones are favourites — raw and burnt sienna or umber are good for representing shadows and texture — then I add gestural marks in thicker opaque paint, scratching and removing layers, slowly building a surface that is akin to the complexity of the landscape. I enjoy the play of opposing elements and strive to bring that energy to my work.”