Artist Statement

I am a visual artist with a practice which includes painting, illustration, animation and video. My studio practice has experienced a pivotal transformation as the result of a journey of experimentation and subsequent discovery. My new paintings present a creative and intentional redirection of vision to a fresh, exotic and exciting view of the world that is profoundly personal, interpretive and expressionistic.

After 12 years of visual storytelling, I continue with illustration, but this too has changed. October of 2013 will see the release of Lasso the Wind: Aurélia's Verses and Other Poems, text by George Elliott Clarke with my artwork. http://www.nimbus.ca/Lasso-the-Wind-P6674.aspx

Another aspect of my practice is the collaborative work I have done with dancer/choreographer Véronique MacKenzie. We have created a number of presentations, including Almost Normal, Generations/Conversations, and with the addition of the talents of Lukas Pearse, we have taken part in Nocturne, the Titanic commemoration with Depths of Sorrow, several productions of Kinetic Studio, and Motion Activated, and interactive installation for Saint Mary's University Art Gallery. My continuing work with Lukas and Véronique allows me to develop skills with animation and video editing. Painting, illustration, animation and video all work together to push my personal exploration with visual art.

Biography

Through her current collaborative work with Véronique MacKenzie and Lukas Pearse, Susan Tooke explores animation and video, returning to media she worked during her studies at the New School in New York City.

Her continuing work in painting, illustration, and digital montage inform her work, which employs stop motion animation and drawing/painting inserted into the animated video clips of the dancer.

In Motion Activated, she uses computer manipulation of video dissecting time and motion as related to the dancer.

Ms. Tooke has a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and graduate studies in Media from the New School for Social Research in New York. She is a three-time winner of the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration.