Susie Leiper

Susie Leiper Into the Mountain 4th March - 14th April 2016

Susie Leiper Into the Mountain 4th March - 14th April 2016

&Collective Art Gallery 28 Henderson Street Bridge of Allan, FK9 4HR t - 01786 359864 e - info@andcollective.co.uk w - andcollective.co.uk

Susie Leiper Into the mountain … one never quite knows the mountain …

Nan Shepherd

We can gaze in awe at a distant mountain, we can approach and climb its slopes. But we can also look into the mountain: under its boulders, into its fissures, through the glassy clarity of its rumbling burns. Susie’s paintings and artist books reveal the mountain in all its guises, as in Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain. Susie is such a fan of this slim masterpiece that her current ambitious project is the creation of a large, one-off, handwritten and illustrated copy of the book.

An unashamed Munro bagger, Susie has also climbed several of China’s sacred peaks and walks regularly in the Pyrenees. As a calligrapher and painter, she writes and paints on everything from walls and wood to canvases and tiny books, often but not always combining text and painting.

Susie’s interest in calligraphy and painting grew out of an editorial career in books on Chinese art and archaeology. A lengthy spell as a scribe on Donald Jackson’s Saint John’s Bible, the first handwritten and illuminated bible for over 500 years, led to a flourishing of her own painting and calligraphic work. Born and educated in Glasgow, Susie has degrees from the University of St Andrews and the Courtauld Institute of Art. She has had several successful solo shows in Edinburgh, exhibits widely, and her work is held in a number of major collections.

Blin’ drift, triptych £ 550 Oil, plaka and graphite on wood Each 23 x 20 cm

Granite, diptych ÂŁ 450 Metallic papers, oil and ink on wood

Each 20 x 20 cm

Schist, diptych ÂŁ 450 Metallic papers, oil and ink on wood

Each 20 x 20 cm

Gneiss, diptych ÂŁ 450 Metallic papers, oil and ink on wood

Each 20 x 20 cm

Mirrored in rings of light £ 350 After ‘Bheinn Naomh’ by Kathleen Raine Ink and resist on Chinese paper 22 x 20 cm

Hill of the moss ÂŁ 350 Oil and plaka on Chinese paper

22 x 20 cm

Hill of the clamshell ÂŁ 350 Ink and resist on Chinese paper 22 x 20 cm

Place of the shells ÂŁ 350 Ink and resist on Chinese paper

18 x 16 cm

Atomism ÂŁ 450 Oil and plaka on paper 40 x 33 cm

Hill of the black rock ÂŁ 450 Oil, plaka and graphite on wood 36 x 36 cm

Peak of the small green loch ÂŁ 450 Watercolour and graphite on paper 33 x 35 cm

Landslide III ÂŁ 550 Oil and plaka on canvas 30 x 25 cm

Landslide II ÂŁ 550 Oil and plaka on canvas 30 x 25 cm

Landslide I ÂŁ 550 Oil and plaka on canvas 30 x 25 cm

Peak of the little field of the berries ÂŁ 350 Ink, gouache and gold on Chinese paper 22 x 20 cm

Broad ridge ÂŁ 750 Oil on wood 34 x 30 cm

Hill of the rowan ÂŁ 750 Oil on wood 34 x 30 cm

Mottled hill ÂŁ 750 Oil on wood 34 x 30 cm

The homeless voice of waters £ 950 Response to ‘The Prelude’, Conclusion’ by William Wordsworth Oil and plaka on wood 60 x 61 cm

Peak of the fearful corrie ÂŁ 1450 Oil on canvas 90 x 75 cm

Blue, tremulous, afar ÂŁ 1800 Oil on canvas 105 x 90 cm

Tai shan ÂŁ 950 Oil, graphite and ink on wood

100 x 110 cm

Wutai shan ÂŁ 950 Oil, graphite and ink on wood 100 x 110 cm

No vision of the blue world £ 250 Title from ‘Summit of Corrie Etchachan’ by Nan Shepherd Book: oil and resist on card, wood covers 16 x 6 cm

Escarpment ÂŁ 350 Triple concertina book: ink and colour on Chinese paper, cherrywood covers

16 x 9 cm

Pentland palette ÂŁ 350 Book inside old palette, title in gold, pages oil on card 27 x 8 cm

Solo exhibitions 2016 2015 2012 2011

Into the Mountain: &Collective, Bridge of Allan The Living Mountain: Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh The One Life: Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh The Word on Wood: Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh

Selected group exhibitions 2014 2013 2012 2011

2009 2007 -

2006 2000

Hidden Door festival: Vault 4 with the Artist Book Group bound : unbound: Artist Book Group at McNaughtan’s Bookshop, Edinburgh 26 Words: Letter Exchange, London and other venues Paper Page Process: Artist Book Group at WASPS Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh Words set free: Letter Exchange, London and other venues Celebrate Calligraphy: 90th anniversary exhibition of the Society of Scribes and Illuminators, London, Sunderland, Halifax Paint Print Page: Artist Book Group at McNaughtan’s Bookshop, Edinburgh Wych Elm Project: Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Royal Scottish Academy (RSA), Visual Arts Scotland (VAS), Society of Scottish Artists (SSA) and Royal Scottish Society of Painters in Watercolour (RSW): annual open exhibitions, various V&A, London: pages of The Saint John’s Bible Museum of Bible Art, New York: pages of The Saint John’s Bible Source: Royal Museum, Edinburgh

Awards 2015 2014 2011

RSW: John Purcell Paper Award RSA: Edinburgh College of Art Library Prize Visual Arts Scotland: Morton Fraser Award Visual Arts Scotland: Nancy Graham Memorial Book Award

Selected Commissions 2013 2012

2011 2010

2008 2007 2002-6 2003 1999 1998 1997

St Cross College, Oxford: artist book for donor Benjamin Tindall Architects, Museum of Edinburgh: painted inscriptions on shop beams; reception signage on linen; transcription on to wall of Martyrs’ Monument text St John’s and King’s Park Church, Dalkeith: excerpts from Psalms painted on wall of nave Crown Office: writing of Letters Patent for House of Lords Edinburgh International Festival: wall of painted poetry in the Hub, Edinburgh Polygon: illustrations and cover artwork for The Book of Crows by Sam Meekings Middle and Inner Temple, London: writing of 2500-word commemorative charter for 400th anniversary The Queen Mother’s Memorial Fund for Scotland: design and writing of donor book Unique Events: handmade books for Robert Burns International Humanitarian Award CBBC: Shoebox Zoo, writing on screen as double British Museum: inscriptions in copies of Gilded Dragons for Her Majesty The Queen and President Jiang Zemin of China St Mary’s Cathedral, Edinburgh: donor book for Phoebe Anna Traquair Song School appeal Royal Museum, Edinburgh: map of China for Precious Cargo exhibition

Collections British Museum, London; Edinburgh College of Art – University of Edinburgh; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Glamis Castle, Angus; National Library of Scotland; National Museums of Scotland; Royal Collection; Saint John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, USA

Selected publications Letter Arts Review, juried issues, various; cover artist 28:4, January 2015 Celebrate Calligraphy, Society of Scribes and Illuminators, London 2011 Wych Elm, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 2009 The Saint John’s Bible, Prophets, Wisdom, Historical, and Letters and Revelation volumes, 2008–10 Slightly Foxed, no. 1 (2004); no. 13 (2007), cover An Leabhar Mor (The Great Book of Gaelic), Canongate, Edinburgh 2002 Words as Images, Society of Scribes and Illuminators, 2000 Precious Cargo: Scots and the China Trade, National Museums of Scotland, 1997

www.susieleiper.com www.theartistbookgroup.org