Sue Kennington

Sue Kennington’s paintings are steeped in atmosphere. Though essentially abstract, her work alludes to natural forms: forests with lit landforms flickering in some far distance, occluded vegetation, non-specific yet somehow recognisable objects hovering in space. One perceives light glowing here, behind the tangle of baroque highly gestural brushwork intrinsic to Kennington’s enduring interest in the chaos and systems that underpin the natural world.

Sue Kennington’s Exploration of Colour

Fundamental to her practice is her fascination with colour relationships, drawing on the extraordinary potential of colour as a sensory tool. The combination of this use of colour and first-hand experience of living for many years in an abandoned wilderness, contributes to the dreamlike quality of the work. The artist inhabits these places, working to saturate the form with the feeling. A feeling of loss from these neglected, once so loved and populated places combines with a sense of renewal given by the light that emanates from the work.

Her career path

Sue Kennington was born in London in 1955 and now lives and works between her studio in a remote rural area of central Italy, Rome and inner London. Her work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions in Italy - Clearing (2023) at Curva Pura Rome, and Third Hand (2018) at C2 Contemporanea, Florence, Italy. In 2019, her paintings were presented alongside Fleur Simon at Sid Motion Gallery, London, and in 2024 and 2025 she has had paintings exhibited in Small is Beautiful at Flowers Gallery, London. Kennington’s works are held in various public collections including Paintings in Hospitals, University of the Arts, London, Liverpool University, and Coventry University.