Susan Swartz at King’s College
Gillian Tett, Provost, King’s College & Susan Swartz
Susan Swartz's installation at King's College, Cambridge was presented June 23rd during London Climate Action Week. Susan’s paintings worked hand in hand with the location, history, and efforts of King’s College to spread a message of environmental awareness and activism.
“King’s College has a long history of supporting sustainability, with green tech research, the placement of solar panels on the chapel roof, “wilding” biodiversity lawn in front of the chapel, and much more. The award-winning work of the artist Susan Swartz echoes this. Her art highlights both the beauty and fragility of the natural world around us - and the need to appreciate the environment and protect it, as it comes under growing threat from climate change. In particular, Swartz uses a mixture of paint and repurposed natural materials to spark reflections on the nature of life, decay, regeneration, with images of chaotic natural glory akin to a “wilding” lawn. Her work is thus both an inspiration and a challenge to look at our environment with fresh eyes, as we fight to preserve it, inside and outside King’s.” - Gillian Tett, Provost of King's College
From a decade of struggling with mercury poisoning and Lyme disease, Swartz credits her survival to the support of foods grown in nature that led to her most powerful recovery. By translating this onto the canvas, she emphasizes the importance of the environment and its critical impact on human health. Swartz’s story, determination, and love for the earth yielded the perfect backdrop for the environmentally charged event, organized by Thinksuite.
Thinksuite is an international organization that facilitates spaces and events for industry-leading investors to come together in discussion of the issues shaping the future of humanity.
Swartz's installation at King’s College is comprised of seven paintings from the Evolution of Nature, Boundless, and Nature's Bouquet series that will be on display in the Provost Lodge through the summer. The opening night’s events included a fireside chat with Provost Gillian Tett, artist Susan Swartz, and founder of ACE91 Ceci Chan.
