Courtyard Project Spaces A & B

Susan Milne: Land

For over forty years, Susan Milne has lived in the Black Mountains and has worked in and from the land which surrounds her. Initially from her isolated farmhouse beneath the Twmpa, and later at her shepherd’s hut studio in the Llanthony Valley. More recently, she works from her studio in the foothills of the mountains within sight of the Mynydd Troed, the subject of her series of lockdown drawings.

The charcoal drawings convey the commanding presence of the mountains as well as light shining through the undergrowth around the River Ennig near her home, while the fluid ink drawings were made on her daily lockdown walks and exhibited in her front window to be viewed by those passing by on their own mountain walks. With many of the monoprints, she has looked at the earth beneath her feet rather than the vastness of her surroundings and has incorporated the actual soil of the mountains into the prints.These vary in tone depending on the geological composition and she carefully records the actual locations around her home and in Denbighshire. Some of the works have been made outside in the wind and rain and the paper is distorted and pierced with bits of natural debris incorporated into the printing process.

The award-winning poet and author Owen Sheers lives near Susan Milne in mid Wales and is likewise inspired by the Black Mountains. He has chosen some of his poems to accompany the works in the exhibition.