About
Suzy Costello
Eastbourne, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
I live in Aotearoa New Zealand on the eastern edge of Te Whanganui-a-Tara surrounded by beech-forested hills, the sea and family.
The significance of place, space and site is at the heart of my artmaking practice. It is where I live, have raised my family, and I feel a deep affinity and respect towards this place of mountains, forest, and sea. I hope my art practice can give voice to this place.
I am interested in exploring the dynamic quality of space, where our movements and memories are experienced in a non-linear relational way. This has led to a curiosity about the interrelationship between place, memory and identity; human and non-human living forms; and art and science. It has also asked me to examine how I, as Pakeha, belong in this land.
How do we attend to human and non-human living forms, and what more do we need to know before we change how we live in the world? These are important questions to guide my art practice.
Art's ability to focus on inner feeling, creative problem solving and new interpretations of understanding the world we live in has given me a deeper appreciation of the value of art to society.
Climate change and the environmental damage caused by global overpopulation and unsustainable economic practices is an urgent issue facing us all and I wonder how this might be brought into focus in my artmaking practice?
Contact
If you would like to receive notice of future exhibitions or contact me please send an email and I will aim to respond within 3 working days.
Thanks, Suzy
Education
2021-22 Masters in Fine Arts
Massey University
2020 Postgraduate Diploma in Fine Arts (with distinction) Massey University
2019 Graduate Diploma in Fine Arts (with distinction) Massey University
2017-18 Advanced Diploma Art & Creativity
The Learning Connexion
2014-16 Diploma Honours Art & Creativity
The Learning Connexion
2010-15 Betsy Kramer
2007-10 Mary Archibald
Awards
2021 Finalist Richard T Nelson Awards
2018 Finalist NZAS Emergent Artist
Finalist Wellington Regional Art
2017 Janet Law Scholarship, TLC
2014 Muriel Hopper 3-d Art Award
Exhibitions
2022 Exposure Exhibition MFA
2021 NZ Art Show
Studio Toru Gallery
2020 Exposure Exhibition
Observing the Absurd
Humbugga Exhibition
2019 Awagami Internation Miniature Print Exhibition, Japan
Muriel Hopper Hutt Art Awards
New Zealand Art Show
2018 LIFELike Japan Festival
Taranaki National Art Show
New Zealand Art Show
Wellington Regional Art Show
Muriel Hopper Hutt Art Show
2017 New Zealand Art Show
Muriel Hopper Hutt Art Awards
2016 New Zealand Art Show
Railway Street Studios
Muriel Hopper Hutt Art Awards
Artists in Eastbourne
2015 Muriel Hopper Hutt Art Awards
Eastbourne Artists
2014 Muriel Hopper Hutt Art Awards
Wellington Regional Art Awards
Acknowledgements
Thanks to The Learning Connexion
and the Janet Law Charitable Trust
Photography
Sue Allman for all her fabulous photos
Richard Mayston for his bird photos
Wayne Churcher for installation photos
Peter Miles for assistance with cicada images
