User:Spongefingers/Susan Te Kahurangi King

Susan Te Kahurangi King : Artist

Susan Te Kahurangi King was born 1951 in Te Aroha, New Zealand; the second of twelve children to Douglas Gordon and Dawn (nee Murphy) King.

Susan stopped talking around the age of 4. Despite many visits to specialists over the years, the cause or condition was never diagnosed. Though now it is very clear Susan is autistic with an high level of artistic ability. Susan took up drawing with a passion. Even from the beginning while Susan was a young child her work came across as important and was valued within the family.

Susan attended normal primary school for a year but the new teacher the following year would not have Susan in the class. In 1960 the family moved to Auckland so Susan could attend the IHC (Intellectually Handicapped Society) school.

Susan also spent several extensive periods staying with her grandparents William and Myrtle (nee Johns) Murphy in Auckland while the family still lived in Te Aroha. Myrtle Murphy took Susan to see several specialists during these visits. Her grandparents were especially close to Susan and encouraged her drawing immensely. Myrtle made many notes either on Susan's drawings or in diaries explaining the contemporary significance of various works. For example on hearing the news of Churchill’s death on the radio, Grandpa (William Murphy) told Susan how Churchill had been an important man and that this news would travel all around the world an a monument would likely be made. This was the inspiration behind a notable drawing depicting Winston Churchill as a stone bust with the world on his head.

While Susan was attending the IHC school in Northcote, Auckland, her drawings were shown to many visitors and at some point entered into an exhibition in London. A certificate recognising her talent was awarded to Susan and there was some connection mentioned about the queen. The certificate was lent by the family to the IHC for display, but never returned and subsequently lost.

At the age of 27 Susan stopped drawing completely. The family didn't know why but it seems from information gathered later, it coincided with the IHC (where Susan still attended) deciding to take away her drawing materials at school so she could spend more time in the workshop making mats which the IHC sold. The IHC had brought in a new policy where they were more focused on developing employment opportunities for their attendees.

Susan left the IHC during the 1980s when her father retired and was available to take her for daily excursions.

SUSAN RECENTLY In 2008 Petita Cole (Susan's sister and art teacher) began sorting through and cataloging her work. So far around four thousand works have been catalogued. A website showcasing a large selection of her work was created and Susan’s work became accessible to view.

Art collector and curator Peter Fay, well known for his passion for Outside Art, became aware of Susan’s drawings and has become a fan and champion of her work.

Award winning NZ documentary maker, Dan Salmon has started making a documentary about Susan and her artwork. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG0FMaWDLG8

New Zealand curator Tim Walker discovered Susan's work and is also studying Susan’s drawings. New Zealand curator and Outsider Art specialist Stuart Shepherd has also begun to study Susan's work and spread the word about her.

Susan has responded extremely well to this new interest in her work and most surprisingly to everyone, in late 2008 at the age of 57 Susan began to draw once more. Art has been Susan’s primary voice for almost all of her life and Susan’s family is very keen to enable Susan to share her extensive catalogue of work with everybody. In July 2009 a Facebook page was started to help share Susan’s work. Every day one drawing is selected to be enjoyed and discussed by subscribers to this page.

In October 2009 Susan’s work was exhibited at the Callan Park Gallery run by the Sydney University College of Fine Arts. This exhibition was extremely well received. The ABC TV show Sunday Arts covered Susan's exhibition and the story about Susan was the most popular they aired all year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Xh9ZkC4F0

ARTWORK SUBJECT MATTER AND METHOD Susan’s drawings are very complex and imaginative. When drawing Susan would incorporate all manner of things she came across in daily life, saw in movies or television or heard people talk about. Cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and the Fanta man were frequently incorporated into her works. Current events and places visited were also featured, as were personal explorations of themes and ideas which remain more difficult to identify. Susan would also find a particular object or shape fascinating and repeat it in many different ways over time, such as propellers on hats or heads, rows of people, hands wearing gloves, pencils… all manner of things.

REFERENCES http://susanking.co.nz/ http://www.artandantiquesmag.com/The-New-Outsiders http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-Xh9ZkC4F0 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cG0FMaWDLG8 http://www.rondowd.com/2009/10/susan-king-at-callan-park-gallery/ http://www.tewahanui.info/pdfs/7/twn07pg03.pdf http://www.usyd.edu.au/sca/research/partnerships/callan_park_exhibitions.shtml http://www.new.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000012924187 http://web.me.com/eelpie/OctopusPictures/Octopus_pictures_of_susan.html