Suzie Riley has shaped a practice attuned to the subtle rhythms of place. Familiar Ground marks her first presentation with Michael Reid in several years, bringing together a body of work that quietly reflects the emotional texture of landscape.
While Suzie lives and works on Bunganditj Country, the paintings in this series are drawn from a region slightly to the north – Kurrangk / Coorong, the traditional lands of the Ngarrindjeri people. These locations, rich in cultural and ecological significance, are approached with deep sensitivity and sustained attention.
Daily walks have become a quiet discipline in Suzie’s practice, offering space to observe the gradual shifts in light and shadow, colour and form. These first impressions are captured in plein air studies using pastel or gouache, which then act as starting points for larger works in oil.
In the studio, each painting is developed slowly through the layering of transparent glazes and dense impasto. Calligraphic marks are placed alongside more decisive brushwork, creating textured surfaces that feel shaped by time. Her nuanced command of tone and pigment allows her to explore the interplay of opposites: order with chaos, stillness with movement, clarity with ambiguity.
The result is a body of work that feels both composed and instinctive — grounded in close observation, yet deeply informed by memory and sensation.
