Ella Sutherland

Working in print, paint and installation, Auckland-born Ella Sutherland explores modes and codes of communication. Her practice is informed by architecture, language and social history, including the written and material culture of queer communities of the early 20th century. Sutherland was once a book designer and a longstanding interest in literature and type is evident in her artworks. She weaves forms which resemble letters, architectural structures or human figures together into crisp and restrained geometric abstracts. The compositions hint at interior scenes, but there is a sense of obstruction or obfuscation to their overlapping elements. If these are spaces, they are private or clandestine. Sutherland’s work has been shown widely throughout New Zealand and abroad and this year she is undertaking a year-long residency at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin.