Susan Gunn exhibition opens in The Gallery at NUCA

Susan Gunn has emerged as one of the city's leading practicing artists since graduating with a first class degree in Fine Art from Norwich University College of the Arts (NUCA) in 2004. On Tuesday (22nd February) she returns to her alma mater to open a free-entry exhibition of new work in The Gallery at NUCA, which will continue until Saturday 19th March.

Susan won the Bishop's Art Prize while still a student at NUCA and has continued to collect commendations including an Escalator Grant from Arts Council England, East and the Sovereign European Art Prize, for which she was selected ahead of 200 nominated artists from over 22 countries.

In her work Susan has explored and developed the use of a traditionally made material called 'gesso'. Combining resilience with fragility, the medium is a mixture of glue, chalk and paint and Susan has pioneered varying techniques to create landscapes of fissured surfaces, making the medium the subject of the painting itself.

Susan says: "My paintings embrace the beauty of the flawed, evoking associated references to control and chance. Historically cracks appearing in newly made gesso are regarded as defects but I welcome these marks as distinguishing characteristics and signs of individuality in the works, rendering each piece unique and distinct from the next."

NUCA Principal Professor John Last adds: "We are delighted to host a show by one of our outstanding alumni, whose success is testament to NUCA's continued commitment to excellence in teaching and preparation for entering the arts, design and media sectors in a professional capacity. Her exhibition is the latest in a stimulating series of exhibitions being brought to Norwich by The Gallery at NUCA, which has recently included the Design Research Unit and East Anglian Basketry and continues with internationally acclaimed artist Marc Camille Chaimowicz in April."

NUCA Fine Art Course Leader Carl Rowe will discuss the exhibition at an ‘In Conversation with Susan Gunn' event on Wednesday 16th March. The talk is free to attend and will take place in NUCA's Duke Street Lecture Theatre starting at 5pm. Seat reservation requests should be emailed to gallery@nuca.ac.uk.

The Susan Gunn exhibition will be on show from Tuesday 22nd February until Saturday 19th March in The Gallery at NUCA on St Georges Street. Entry is free to the public between the hours of 12pm and 5pm, Tuesday to Saturday.

This exhibition is supported by Crawford Consulting, a local, fee-based firm of independent financial advisors who assist clients in meeting their financial aspirations. They have an experienced team with a wide understanding of the financial world whose aim is to develop a close working relationship with each client. The areas of advice that they regularly deal with include investment management, pension provision and estate and tax planning.