About
Suzy Costello
Eastbourne, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
I live in Aotearoa New Zealand on the eastern edge of Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington harbour 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 that sustains all its human and non-human living forms. By following the vital matter and agency of discarded materials sourced from my local area, I hope my art practice can give voice to this place.
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. It is leading to an inquiry into biological processes and our relationship with our environment.
Last semester I explored the materiality of pohutukawa stamen and wood collected from the felling of two 110-year-old trees at St Alban’s Anglican church in Eastbourne. The socially engaged artwork which resulted, allowed the trees to be commemorated, the parishioners explore their relationship with their environment, express emotions and unite the community. The story of the trees led to a further inquiry into the planting of thousands of pohutukawa along the shores of Te Whanganui-a-Tara and its colonisation as forests became farms.
This experience has given me a deeper appreciation of the value of art to society and a curiosity in the inter-relationship between art and science. Arts ability to focus on inner feeling, creative problem solving and new interpretations of understanding the world we live in, are things I would like to explore.
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 Costello
Education
2021 Studying for a 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
2021 NZ Art Show
Oroua 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
Mentors and Tutors
Aaron Frater
Betsy Kramer
Dennis Berdinner
Pueto Bronze
