“Susan Dorothea White's use of unusual materials such as endangered and recycled woods native to Australia contributes significantly to the effectiveness of her work...
Gallery & Studio (New York)

SCULPTURE

It Cuts Both Ways - sculpture assemblage of carved salvaged Huon pine, fabric, shears, paint by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White
It Cut Both Ways - assemblage
Hechinger Collection, International Arts & Artists

The contemporary artist Susan White produces sculptures in bronze, stone, wood, and mixed media assemblage. Her skills in carving, combined with a profound knowledge of the human figure, give her sculpture a depth of expression.

Susan White's subject matter is drawn from many sources, including human rights, the status of women, literature, music, and natural forms. She transforms idioms into three dimensions. Her mixed media sculptures are assemblages of everyday objects and fabrics centered around hands carved in wood. Humor and imagination make her figurative sculptures distinctive.

"Referring to the balance between gender and races, the bold sculpture It Cuts Both Ways suggests that 'any potential movement of either pair of hands would activate both pairs equally'. To realize the piece, she replaced the handles of garden shears with hands carved from salvaged huon pine (which can take up to 3,000 years to grow!) and modified found clothing for the sleeves..."

Sarah Tanguy, Curator, Hechinger Collection, Washington DC (2002)

CLICK FOR ARTWORKS IN FOLLOWING MEDIA:

•  Sculpture Assemblage: Idioms in mixed mediums

•  Stone

•  Bronze

•  Wood

SCULPTURE ASSEMBLAGE - IDIOMS IN MIXED MEDIUMS

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Lost for Words - sculpture assemblage of carved salvaged Huon pine wood by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White, symbolising the struggle to retain languages under the dominance of English-speaking culture
Lost for Words
assemblage
Lost for Words - sculpture assemblage of carved salvaged Huon pine wood by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White, symbolising the struggle to retain languages under the dominance of English-speaking culture (detail)
Lost for Words
assemblage (detail)
Measure for Measure - sculpture assemblage of carved, salvaged Huon pine wood and mixed media by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (detail)
Measure for Measure
assemblage (detail)
Re-inventing the Wheel - sculpture assemblage of carved salvaged Huon pine, dividers, fabric, vintage  car wheel, doorbell by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (detail)
Re-inventing the Wheel
assemblage (detail)
Next-door Neighbors - sculpture assemblage of carved Huon pine wood by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White with fabric, bullet casings and mixed media, representing the contrast between wealth and poverty, male and female, war and peacecas
Next-Door Neighbours
assemblage (details)
It Cuts Both Ways - sculpture assemblage of carved salvaged Huon pine, fabric, shears, paint by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White
It Cuts Both Ways
assemblage. Collection: Hechinger - IAA, Washington
It Cuts Both Ways - sculpture assemblage of carved salvaged Huon pine, fabric, shears, paint by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (details)
It Cuts Both Ways
assemblage (detail). Collection: Washington
The Long Arm of The Law - sculpture assemblage of carved wood, fabric and mixed media by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White, exhibited in the High Court of Australia and Montserrat Gallery, New York (detail)
The Long Arm of the Law
assemblage (detail)

STONE

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Dantien - organic sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (top view) - representing Dantian, Dan Tien or Tan t'ien
Dantien: Energy Source
sandstone (view a)
Dantien - organic sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (side view)
Dantien: Energy Source
sandstone (view b)
Head in the Clouds - figurative limestone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White, inspired by poem The Little Black Boy by William Blake
Head in the Clouds
stone carving
Head in the Clouds - figurative limestone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White, inspired by poem The Little Black Boy by William Blake (detail)
Head in the Clouds
stone carving (detail)
Girl Skipping - figurative sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White - skipping girl in form of gyroscope
Girl Skipping
stone carving
Woman Oppressed - figurative sandstone carving by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White - she is about to spring up against the forces of oppression. Torso-less and with oversized feet, she is a protest against depicting women Woman Oppresse
Woman Oppressed
stone carving
Giant Slugs in Love - organic sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White
Giant Slugs in Love
stone carving
Why Not Lot? - figurative sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (view a)
Why Not Lot?
stone carving (view a)
Why Not Lot? - figurative sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (view b)
Why Not Lot?
stone carving (view b)
Rock Star - organic sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (top view) - representing Dantian, Dan Tien or Tan t'ien
Rock Star
sandstone
Yin and Yang - sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (view a)
Yin and Yang
stone carving (view a)
Yin and Yang - sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (view b)
Yin and Yang
stone carving (view b)
Beauty and The Beast - figurative sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (view a)
Beauty and The Beast
stone carving (view a)
Beauty and The Beast - figurative sandstone carving sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (view b)
Beauty and The Beast
stone carving (view b)

BRONZE

"... in White's bronze maquettes for monumental fountains, natural phenomena are imaginatively transformed through the artist's fluid handling of shapes in space."

Gallery & Studio (New York)

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WOOD

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Eternal Pursuit - sculpture of carved salvaged Huon pine by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White
Eternal Pursuit
woodcarving
Eternal Pursuit - sculpture of carved salvaged Huon pine by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White (detail)
Eternal Pursuit
woodcarving (detail)
Woodworm No. 1 - carving of red sirus wood sculpture by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White
Woodworm
woodcarving
Wall Mask - sculpture carving of hoop pine by contemporary Australian artist Susan Dorothea White
Wall Mask
woodcarving