South African visual artist Sue Kaplan

Sue Kaplan

South Africa | 7 artworks for sale

  • Forest Woman - Painting by Sue Kaplan Forest Woman
    Painting / 40 x 50 cm
    R16 300
  • Love Of Darvey - Painting by Sue Kaplan Love Of Darvey
    Painting / 60 x 45 cm
    R14 500
  • Whispering Secrets - Painting by Sue Kaplan Whispering Secrets
    Painting / 45 x 60 cm
    R14 500
  • Midnight Swimmers - Painting by Sue Kaplan Midnight Swimmers
    Painting / 80 x 60 cm
    R12 600
  • Pink Room - Painting by Sue Kaplan Pink Room
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
    R5 000
  • Shadows In Glencairn - Painting by Sue Kaplan Shadows In Glencairn
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
    R4 500
  • Redheads At No. 5 - Painting by Sue Kaplan Redheads At No. 5
    Painting / 30 x 40 cm
    R12 000
  • Don't Walk Away Rene - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Don't Walk Away Rene
    Painting / 40 x 30 cm
  • Dancing On The Wild Side - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Dancing On The Wild Side
    Painting / 100 x 78 cm
  • On The Move - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    On The Move
    Painting / 80 x 60 cm
  • Green Lockdown Room - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Green Lockdown Room
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • Red Lockdown Room - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Red Lockdown Room
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • Lily In Pink - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Lily In Pink
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • Lean In Ladies - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Lean In Ladies
    Painting / 30 x 40 cm
  • Lola - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Lola
    Painting / 25 x 25 cm
  • Shopping Day - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Shopping Day
    Painting / 45 x 60 cm
  • Hold Me Close Baby - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Hold Me Close Baby
    Painting / 42 x 58 cm
  • Homage To Colbert Mashile - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Homage To Colbert Mashile
    Painting / 45 x 60 cm
  • Siblings - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Siblings
    Painting / 20 x 20 cm
  • Stoep Chair - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Stoep Chair
    Painting / 23 x 23 cm
  • Yellow Son - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Yellow Son
    Painting / 35 x 35 cm
  • The Time Traveller - Printmaking by Sue Kaplan
    The Time Traveller
    Printmaking / 27 x 39 cm
  • Protect Your Interests - Fine Art Editions by Sue Kaplan
    Protect Your Interests
    Fine Art Editions / 29 x 38 cm
  • Soar - Printmaking by Sue Kaplan
    Soar
    Printmaking / 28 x 39 cm
  • Bird - Printmaking by Sue Kaplan
    Bird
    Printmaking / 25 x 35 cm
  • Invisible Me - Mixed Media by Sue Kaplan
    Invisible Me
    Mixed Media / 35 x 35 cm
  • Wind In My Sails - Oil Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Wind In My Sails
    Oil Painting / 120 x 80 cm
  • Waiting - Printmaking by Sue Kaplan
    Waiting
    Printmaking / 35 x 25 cm
  • Prevailing Wind - Limited Edition Print by Sue Kaplan
    Prevailing Wind
    Limited Edition Print / 15 x 25 cm
  • Waiting 3/6 - Limited Edition Print by Sue Kaplan
    Waiting 3/6
    Limited Edition Print / 35 x 25 cm
  • Crossing Over - Limited Edition Print by Sue Kaplan
    Crossing Over
    Limited Edition Print / 28 x 19 cm
  • Tracey And Doll - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Tracey And Doll
    Painting / 35 x 35 cm
  • Bucket - Painting by Sue Kaplan
    Bucket
    Painting / 27 x 40 cm
  • Cloud - Print by Sue Kaplan
    Cloud
    Print / 28 x 19 cm
The search for a personal identity:

At the moment my paintings are made in response to events encounters sensations in my own life. I paint in a visceral, process-driven way, like a sort of diary, as a series of thoughts, impulses, feelings, rather than as carefully thought-out concepts that are planned into the night. Although I do sometimes lie awake thinking about a painting or an idea.

I love all the roles I have and sometimes everything overlaps a bit chaotically, creating a palimpsest of images: heroes, villains, wind and sea, all jostle for centre stage. There is a dual narrative I think: the paintings are a bit like me: sometimes they are impulsive, colourful, expressive and direct; other times, they are withholding, enigmatic, introspective and restless. Always its about having a language of communication...I try do what I love.
M.A Fine Arts (University Of The Witwatersrand)

Many rites of passage later and after many years of studying, working and travelling, I am living at the seaside at the edge of the world. My education includes at BA Fine Art from UNISA, an MA in Fine Art from Wits, a foundation course in Art Therapy and an Honours in Curatorship from UCT. I am also a certified Zen coach.

Selected Exhibitions:

2019 
Liebricht Gallery - Somerset West
6 Spin Street- Cape Town

2017
A matter of life and loss: Honours in Curatorship  Michaelis UCT
Agassiz Gallery - Boston USA

2015
Two : Smith Gallery Cape Town

2014
Aardvark Cape Town
Kalk Bay Modern Cape Town

2011
Agasizz Gallery Boston,USA

2008
MA solo exhibition Wits University Johannesburg

2005
ATC: Museum Afrika Johannesburg

2004
Wits University  Johannesburg

2001
Cuyler Street Gallery Port Elizabeth
Spark! Johannesburg
Ekurhuleni/Kempton Park

Which new trends or South African artists do you find inspiring at the moment?
I'm always interested in new painters who work with a more embodied style of painting and are less figurative. Examples such as Grace Cross, Zolile Petshane, Ian Grose, Fanie Buys, or Thenjiwe Niki Nkosi. I'm also into abstract collage artists, like Sitaara Stodel and various performance artists such as Sethembile Msezane.

Which South African deceased artist do you most admire and why?
So many artists were taken tragically young….but I guess as an academic who wrote about art, a stand out might be Colin Richards and a deceased  artist whose work I loved is Robert Hodgins. I also loved Helen Martins, an outsider artist who made the Owl House. I love outsider art.

If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be?
Michael Armitage is first on my list, but also a Mohau Modisakeng, or a Genieve Figgis or an Anthony Cudahy…or a Zanele Muhole painting ooh no, I can't choose only one!

Pick three artists who you would be honored to exhibit with – and why?
Carla Busuttil, Wonder Buhle, Grace Cross. or Jules de Ballincourt. The way they use paint and colour.

How did you get started? Did you always want to be an artist?
I've been drawing since I was 4 years old! I didn’t even question that it was my chosen passion and direction!

What are some of the key themes you explore in your work?
I'm interested in the way art makes me feel, so it’s a visceral response to life that really drives me rather than as specifically theme based. Having said that I do like to paint and draw people and things close to my heart and as extensions of my circumstances. I might also see an image, think about it for a while and take photographs of the image, ie maybe they are shadows and then I'll work within that context for a while. So I do have an image bank which fuels me at times.

What should people know about your art that they can’t tell from looking at it?
That I spend a lot of time agonizing about the work, before, during and after!! And I put my paintings on the wall or leave them hanging around my studio and sometimes it might take years for me to feel the work is resolved. Another time I'm happy straight away.

Tell us more about your creative process.
I spend a while thinking and doing some drawing and maybe tidying up or meditating and just processing a bit. I'm always in a longing mode to be in my studio, but I do procrastinate an awful amount of time. Then I quickly put down colours and shapes. Only then do I feel mobilized and then I can work quite quickly to get the ghist painted. Then I need to sit with it and mull and look.

Do you believe an artist should use their platform to influence society? Why?
I think marketing is key, no matter how painful it is …it keeps one visible and it's important to have the conversations. Having said that I prefer other people to do it for me.

Do you have a favourite or most meaningful work?
Favourites come and go, but I think I'm more attached to the experiences that occurred at a particular time, or the style that I was exploring at a certain time, as I know my work shifts in style and mood over time. It's good to let go of work and I guess some it's more difficult than others….  I'm liking a work at the moment that is called 'Louis', as its of a captured moment of my son at the start of lockdown and its full of compressed tension.

What is your greatest achievement as an artist to date?
I achieved a cum laude Masters in Fine Art and held a solo exhibition as part of the degree fulfilment of 75 works and sold most of them.

What are your aspirations for the future?
To really feel I am being productive and making art and constantly evolving into a better and better version of myself and my work.