What does my art say about me?
“I am the art; the art is me – this is the inside of my head. There is no such thing as age-appropriate dressing…”
And what her art really says about Sue
Red is an interesting colour for Sue, because it isn’t black. A New Yorker of her age and class is usually encased in black, with a camel coat and leopard-print scarf to jazz things up. But Sue has rejected this route, and much of her old self. There are small clues to her previous work as a cookery writer, such as the garlic held by the ladies on her coat, but Sue is a new woman.
In her life’s second half, Sue is an artist, and a magpie one: she borrows from many cultures and places, from India, South America, North and West Africa. (Not to mention her own British culture, though she only really uses folk art and cartoons.) By swirling the colourful and exaggeratedly feminine together she turns them into a celebration. A multilayered, many-headed, super-jewelled celebration. What is she celebrating? Herself.
The interesting thing about Sue’s celebration is how it’s all mixed up with good luck charms. Red can mean different things – passion, excitement – but in Chinese culture it’s a symbol of fortune. Sue’s art surrounds her subject (herself) with lucky talismans. She’s warding off the devils of boredom, of irrelevance, of failing energy, of being ignorable and therefore ignored. It’s not that she’s denying her age, more that she’s chasing away the scary stuff that often comes with it.
Sue’s art is very definitely female. She rejects passive western female sexiness and instead goes for womanhood: witchy, mysterious, flamboyant, dynamic. The keeper of recipes and spells. Her art says: “Look at me! I am here, with all my heart and experience and personality, and you cannot deny me.” Sue is from New York and lives in London, both noisy, tough places that crush wallflowers. Her triumphant art – her armour – means that she will not be crushed.
If you’d like Miranda to cast an eye over your favourite possession, email a photo to magazine@observer.co.uk
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