SUZANNE ARCHER: BENEATH THE SKIN (2015)

For years I have collected photographs of the Mexican Day of the Dead and of Mummies such as those of Guanajuato and over the years I have filled my studio with cabinets of animal skulls and dehydrated specimens collected when walking in the bush or given to me by friends.

From 2003-2005 I drew at the Veterinary Science Laboratory at the University of Sydney during the students’ horse dissection sessions which resulted in several exhibitions. Not surprisingly I then turned eventually to the human skeleton as subject, purchasing a replica of a human skeleton that became my model in my studio resplendent in a hat I added to lighten the mood! This compliant model was strung-up in complex poses providing endless subject matter!

I am interested in exploring disturbing images that are inspired by a dark, uneasy psychological undercurrent and black humour such as the painting Two Skeletons Messing with my Head where two skeletons play with my own decapitated head.

During this time I rediscovered James Ensor’s Skeletons Fighting Over a Pickled Herring (1891) which provided a historical context for this body of work.

My art practice embraces drawing, painting, sculpture and installation often with them all being utilized in my work concurrently.

Suzanne Archer 2015