Susan Jacobs: The ants are in the idiom at Buxton Contemporary

July 3–November 6, 2022

Curator talk with Jacqueline Doughty: July 30, 11:30am–12:30pm

The Australian-born, London-based artist Susan Jacobs presents her recently commissioned piece titled The ants are in the idiom. The show is a vast sculpture setting that leads the visitor into a network of visual puzzles as a reflection on the interaction between words and materiality.

Jacobs’ study of the philosophical traditions that have shaped—and misshaped—human understanding serves as the foundation for his poetic approach to materials. With graphic puns and wordplay, playful allusions to science, psychology, and mythology collide. The show, a rhizomatic sculpture network that encourages associative seeing in the observer, is energized by the creative possibilities of misinterpretation.

This piece was created over a period of years by the artist, who experimented with various materials in her workshop to express a sculptural language influenced by years of environmental observation and historical study. The idiom’s use of ants as a metaphor for artistic process or, on a more general level, the human desire to interpret our surroundings is possible.

Curated by Jacqueline Doughty. 

The development of this exhibition was supported by an Australia Council for the Arts Fellowship. 

All works courtesy of Sarah Scout Presents, Melbourne. 

Susan Jacobs: The Ants are in the Idiom is on view at Buxton Contemporary on Level 1, with Still Life exhibition on Level 2.