Working from a straw bale studio on Peramangk country in the Adelaide Hills, Suzie Riley has shaped a practice attuned to the subtle rhythms of place. ‘Familiar Ground’ marks her first appearance with Michael Reid in several years. Daily walks have become a quiet discipline, offering time to observe the gradual shifts of light and shadow, colour and form that pass almost unnoticed.
These impressions are first captured in small plain air sketches in pastel or gouache, which act as seeds for larger works in oil. In the studio, she builds each painting through transparent glazes and dense impasto, layering calligraphic marks with confident brushwork to create surfaces that seem to record the slow accumulation of time. Her sensitive command of pigment and tone allows her to explore the way opposites—order and chaos, stillness and movement—disclose each other within the same frame. The result is a body of work that feels both composed and instinctive, grounded in observation but shaped by memory. To request a preview catalogue, press the button below.
