Friday 2 June - Friday 7 July 2023

‘I wanted to explore how to communicate and transfer visually an emotion or frustration. Consideration is given to the process of making as well as material used to express the delicate but resilient nature of skin.’

Since March 2022, Suzanne met with Dr Shelley MacDonald, a psychotherapist and artist, to support with mentorship and to help navigate Suzanne’s personal history and relationship with mental health and eczema.

Conversations with Dr MacDonald explored the theory of Esther Bick, with an emphasis on the vital family connections with the sharing of skin and the psychic nature of skin. Leading to the inclusion of Suzanne’s sister, Dominique Golden. This created a unique dynamic of experience and relationships with skin as the binding force.

Suzanne, Dominque and Dr MacDonald engaged in conversation and artistic practice throughout the project. The inclusion of sisters presented a unique exploration with skin as the starting point. The threads of the sisters practice overlapped and combined to create layers of meaning. The exhibition is just the surface layer of much research, including social history, philosophy, contemporary arts practice and psychologists. Suzanne recorded this conversation journey and presented the map which supported this development in the format of a non-linear presentation, which in turn will demonstrate the methodology of coming together of minds.

Suzanne presented textile and paper cuttings; exploring the process of embroidery and punch needle, using different bases of material like hessian and handkerchiefs, with their own unique decorative fingerprint, and perforated likening to skin breathing. The wool thread is like veins threading through, overlapping and intertwining to create a surface, like when skin heals and creates new layers. The action of threading is creating a void to fill a void, playing on the relationship with mental health. The marking of the skin, to itch and scratch resembles the marking of the material and to create a textured surface, similar to the nature of repairing or fixing something.

The subject was images of Suzanne growing up and reimagined memories with exaggerated skin tone colours, depicted times when her facial skin was aggravated. The front of the textile piece is considered and neat, showing how we wear a mask in public, aiming to look our best, whereas the back of the piece is matted and chaotic, an insight to the inner thoughts of keeping it together. The reverse of the work is hidden in the frame, mimicking the need to hide and conceal.

'Sad face' by Suzanne Golden

Dominique presented a series of drawings; ‘The Wooden Drawings’ series explored humans as objects by giving them a woodgrain finish, which alludes to dolls, i.e., small figures of ourselves which we project humanistic qualities onto. Dominique’s work often refers to wooden items as having their own life and considers the material of objects to be an important subtext of the face value of things.

As Suzanne’s sister who shares the same skin, Dominique considers how skin can be transferred from one person to another (physic skin). Dominique and Suzanne each have two preteen and teenage boys and Dominique’s work refers to this evolving dynamic of stretched skin. How children become independent from their parents and how various objects retain emotional value that symbolise connection to family members. Also, how objects keep us connected to people through an extended network of personalised meaning.

'Head drawing' by Dominque Golden 

If you want to contact the artists, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Funded by The Arts Council, England, supported by the Institute of Mental Health and BACKLIT