Susan was born in 1953 in Sussex. From 1979-82, she obtained an education degree at Bulmershe College, Reading (B.Ed). After having brought up a family, she embarked on a Foundation Course in Fine Art at Pontypridd College of Art, i.e. from 1997-98, which was followed, from 1998 to 2001, by a degree course in Art & Aesthetics (BA.hons) at University of Wales Institute Cardiff. In 2001 to 2003 she completed her art education by a M.A. Course at UWIC/Howard Gardens Cardiff. She lives and works in Cardiff where she has been active for the past 20 years; has her studio in Canton, Cardiff.

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AmeriCymru: Hi Sue and many thanks for agreeing to this interview. How does one become a sculptor? How did your interest in this art form evolve?

Sue: I moved to Wales in the early 1980s with my husband who is Welsh and I thought it was important to learn to speak Welsh. My children went to Welsh language nursery in Cardiff where I started helping out. Eventually I became the teacher of the class and this involved making things with the children every day. I have always liked making things it is a creative process. When I left the nursery there was a chance to do something for myself and this was when I started my journey into the world of art. At the age of 43 I did a foundation and enjoyed it a lot. The only difficult thing was deciding what medium to work in. I chose ceramics, painting, printing, and photography as this way I could carry on making. I then went off to the University of Wales Institute Cardiff and did a BA in Art and Aesthetics which was so enjoyable, that I went straight on to do an MA in Fine Art. It was whilst I was in UWIC that I was introduced to sculpture. My main interest was in the human body and in particular the female from which was something I understood. I was keen to find ways of portraying women that moved away from the conventional forms of beauty. Having had five children I had a particular interest in the mother. I read a lot about ways women had been portrayed in prehistory and fell in love with early carvings of mother Godesses. As a mother of five here were depictions of a beautiful female body I could relate to but they werent conventional to the modern eye. By the end of my MA my life had changed a lot. Art had become something inside me. I got myself a studio and I started working, as well as teaching Drawing at a local community Arts Centre. I have always felt it important to pay my way with my chosen path. It took a bit of juggling to get things right in terms of family and art but it all seemed to fit in.

AmeriCymru: We note from your website that you work in metal, stone and ceramics. What are the advantages and limitations of these materials for your work? Do you have a preference?

Sue: I love working in metal, but it is a team game, and takes a lot more organizing. I mainly work in wax clay or plaster first and then when money allows I get things cast in iron or bronze. I suffer from diabetes which can make the physical work difficult but there are excellent technicians in Wales who help with the process. I sometimes use a chisel and stone but I find working in plaster to be a very tactile experience. I try to express this tactility into my work and in particular into the surface texture of the finished piece. I use rough and smooth areas to express tension or inner conflict. I also use twists in the body to express emotions and often make pairs of figures that interact with each other as well as the viewer.

Bronze has a sense of universality about it which is something I like to play with and iron is a brittle material that corrodes over time. The surface of raw bronze can be changed using chemicals to create different colours and iron rusts which can also be very expressive and very beautiful or you can wax or paint the surface. I also work in stone which takes a great deal of effort. It is the opposite of building something up in clay or plaster. You just chip away until you feel the form is there. It can be difficult, heavy and dirty work but the rewards are great.

AmeriCymru: You also paint. How would you characterize your paintings and drawings?

Sue: I teach life drawing which is vital to my understanding of the body. Drawing is often a starting point for my sculpture. It allows me to search for those moments of expression or to develop ideas. Painting is another way of expressing the things I want to say. I usually paint single figures, the background is a space, so in a way it is similar to sculpting for me. I tend to work on very large canvases and this is also similar to the monumentality of some of my sculpture.

AmeriCymru: Can you tell us about your involvement with the Sculpture Cymru project - Journey Responses to Place?

Sue: I am Vice Chair of Sculpture Cymru which is a group of sculptors from Wales who come together to promote sculpture. The group has had exhibitions all over the Europe including Germany, Ireland and France. The Journeys Project is a response to landscape and in our case the Welsh landscape. At one of our Journey meetings, a sculptor from Brecon , Matthew Tomlin said something that described what we had all done up to that point. There is an atavistic tendency in our ideas, a sense of the disappeared, fragile, destroyed or lost - over long periods of time together with whatever it is remains and whatever still contains the memory of lost lives. We have used this quote to describe our work. The intention is to explore the idea of a special place of interest and our relationship to that place and its past.

When our children were young we would take them out on day trips and in Wales that often meant historic or prehistoric sites. As we explored I fell in love with this beautiful country and its long, rich history. My response to the project is to combine my love of the history and geography of Wales with my sculpture. So for my part of the project I have devised a project called Figure in the Landscape which involves visiting places that are special to me and rather than just taking photographs or memories away I decided to leave something behind that marks my visit. So I have made some small figures that I intend to leave at these special sites. There is an element of pilgrimage in this project and pilgrimages often end with an offering. Making art is like making an offering, so that is what I am doing. Each figure will have a tag attached that asks people to take the figure to a place that is special to them. I am then asking them to take a photograph of the figure in their special place and tell me something about why it is special to them. I have started a Facebook page for collecting this information and pictures. By using Facebook as a medium to share my work seemed to me to be one way to bring it from the past up to the present.

www.facebook.com/figureinthelandscape

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Maen Llia

This work will then be shown at the several exhibitions for Sculpture Cymrus Journeys project. These will show the works of all the members and the first show will be at the Gas Gallery in Aberystwyth from February 26th to April 1st This will be followed by three other venues around Wales including Oriel Lliw in Pontardawe, the Wyeside Gallery in Builth Wells, and Arts Central in Barry. There will also be a book relating to the Journeys project.

Details about the Journeys project will be posted on the Sculpture Cymru website which is

www.sculpturecymru.org.uk

AmeriCymru: What's next for Sue Roberts? Do you have any further exhibitions planned?

Sue: Recently I was lucky enough to get a grant from the Welsh Arts Council. This was a great boost for me and allowed me to make lots of work. However artists have to promote themselves which doesnt always come naturally but there is no point doing all this work if it doesnt get seen.

In March I have a solo show at the Cynon Valley Museum and Art Gallery in Aberdare so that means a lot of work as I have to fill two floors! I am a member of several groups which show work in Wales and around the world. Earlier this year I was part of a show in Vienna and I am currently part of an exchange program with the International Society of Experimental Artists and The Welsh Group. Through this some of my work is currently being shown in America. The exhibition starts in Florida and will then move on to California. I am also going to be part of a show in Mid Wales, then in Dusseldorf later this year.

I am a founding member of a group called 3ormore which is a mentoring and exhibiting group. We have two shows lined up in Cardiff, one which is actually inside the Welsh assembly itself and the other at the fabulous Pierhead Building in Cardiff Bay. Next year we will be showing at the newly renovated Penarth Pier.

I am also a member of the Vale of Glamorgan artists where we are having an exhibition in the beautiful Dyffryn Gardens in October. The idea is to make work that responds to the space.

I am a committee member of the Women Arts Association which is having several exhibitions in March to celebrate womens day.

So it is a very busy time for me which is great. There is a website of my work at

www.suerobertsartist.co.uk

AmeriCymru: Any final message for the readers and members of AmeriCymru?

Sue: I came to the world of art fairly late in life because I was busy having a family, but I believe it is important for people and nations to express their identity. The Arts are under a lot of pressure at the moment with the financial problems we all face, but art is a way of telling others what you think and feel. It is a way of talking about the things that are important to people. Sometimes these things are abstract or difficult but art seems to be the ideal way to address these things and begin a dialogue. Art is an important part of our culture, so I can only urge people to get involved, either by having a go for themselves or through supporting the arts. If you are on a day out in Wales and spot a little figure lying there with a label on it, pick it up and take it somewhere that means something to you and that might be your first steps to becoming an artist.