Susan Hockaday – Statement

The artwork of Susan Hockaday has always focused on structures and patterns found in the natural world. She has worked in many media, but for the last twelve years has used photographs to make layered images of water, foliage, and other elements of landscape. Over time, she has become increasingly aware of the destruction of the natural world by man’s uncontrolled activities, even in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, where she lives in the summer and does much of her work. Recently, she has begun to add painted or printed marks to the surface of the finished photographs to introduce the idea of the disturbance of nature. These narrative elements indicate invasion and encroachment. They add another level of meaning and tension to the images, which are collectively titled “Turning on Nature.” For the last year she has photographed the waterways and harbors around Manhattan from a small airplane, recording some more extreme examples of Nature Disturbed. Ms Hockaday takes all her photographs with hand held cameras, and prints the final chromogenic prints in a studio in New York City.