ABOUT

SUSAN NETHERCOTE

BIO

My name is Susan Nethercote (she/her) and I am a painter living on unceded Susan Nethercote was born in Bairnsdale in 1975 and now lives and works in Ballarat on Wadawurrung country.

In 1998 she received her degree with honours in Fine Art at the University of Melbourne, where she also lectured and tutored. From 2000 until 2015 Susan established and ran the independent clothing label ‘Manque Design’.

In addition to maintaining a significant online presence, Susan sells her artwork globally, licenses to various lifestyle, fashion, and decor brands worldwide, hosts the ‘Studio Insider Art’ podcast with over 227,000 listens, and teaches via online classes and workshops.

Her first solo exhibition, ‘Autumnal Dreamscapes’ at the Old Butcher’s Shop Gallery in Ballarat was a sell-out success and she has exhibited in numerous group exhibitions. In 2024 she will mount her second solo exhibition ‘An Ornamental Education’ at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.

Susan was the 2022/23 winner of the AGES Society Art Prize. In 2024 she is commencing her MA in Visual Art at Federation University.

Her paintings are held in private collections in Australia, US, Canada, Europe Japan, UK, and the Middle East.

ARTIST STATEMENT

Susan Nethercote’s artwork examines the relationship between the cultivation of flowers and botanicals, and the ways we seek to create a sense of home, place, and spiritual connection through both domestic and public gardens.

She draws on her local landscape to explore the interweaving of botany, architecture, history, and culture experienced in cultivated outdoor areas. Susan’s work brings into quiet consideration the tensions between the beauty of carefully crafted gardens comprising introduced species, and the evidence of colonialism present in the inner-suburban landscape.

With a special interest in the history of female artists’ interaction with flowers, botanicals and gardens, Susan’s work reflects directly on the unique ways they have approached this subject matter in their art practice.

CV

Education:
2024- present: MA by Research | Visual Art | Federation University
1996-1998: MA Course Work and Thesis | Department of Fine Arts | University of Melbourne
1996-1998: Casual Lecturer and Tutor | Department of Fine Arts | University of Melbourne. Research Assistant for Dr. Christopher Marshal | Department of Fine Arts | University of Melbourne
1996: Awarded Australian Postgraduate Award for MA | Department of Fine Arts | University of Melbourne.
1993-1996: Bachelor of Arts with Honours | University of Melbourne (Majoring in Fine Art)

Solo Exhibitions:
2024: An Ornamental Education | Art Gallery of Ballarat
2022: Autumnal Dreamscapes | The Old Butcher’s Shop Gallery | Ballarat (Sold out)

Awards
2022-23: Winner AGES Art prize | 10K Acquisitive prize