About Susie
Susie Althorp is an emerging visual artist based in South Australia whose practice spans multiple mediums, with a particular focus on ceramic installation and sculpture. Working with clay offers her an immersive and tactile connection to the earth, its versatility allowing exploration of processes including slip casting, wheel throwing, and hand altering forms. Her practice has recently expanded into installation-based works using multiples, experimenting with paperclay and the materiality of light.
Althorp works at the intersection of science and art, drawing on natural history and childhood experiences such as beachcombing to construct narratives around ecology and the human condition. With the curiosity of an amateur naturalist, she collects and studies botanical specimens of algae to explore the diversity of form, texture, and pattern. Her work often engages the sublime and invites viewers to slow down, look closer, and reconnect with the natural world while questioning our own environmental impact.
CV
Susie Jane Althorp
Born: Adelaide, South Australia
Lives: Yorke Peninsula, SA
Exhibitions
2026 Country Arts SA Regional Tour skopos, Murray Bridge Regional Gallery
2025 Country Arts SA & SALA skopos, Praxis Art Space Gallery, Adelaide, SA
2023 SALA Vessel, Light Square Gallery, Adelaide, SA
The Hospital Research Foundation Group - Creative Health Art Prize, Adelaide, SA
2022 Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition, Adelaide, SA
Solar Art Prize, Royal South Australian Society of the Arts, Adelaide, SA
Hatched 2022, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art, WA
Waterhouse Natural Science Art Prize Exhibition, SA Museum, SA
Hydrophilia, Floating Goose Studios, Adelaide, SA
2021 sentient, Honours Graduate Exhibition, Light Square Gallery (TAFESA Adelaide College of the Arts), Adelaide, SA
2020 Brighton Jetty Sculptures, Adelaide, SA
2019 Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition, Adelaide, SA
Solar Art Prize, Royal South Australian Society of the Arts, Adelaide, SA
Watershed Art Prize, City of Salisbury, Adelaide, SA
Friends, Light Square Gallery (TAFESA Adelaide College of the Arts), Adelaide, SA
Enduring Connections, Arts in Health at FMC, Adelaide, SA
The Red Room, Collective Haunt, Adelaide, SA
Student SALA Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide, SA
Urban Cow Studio Art Prize - Finalists Exhibition, Adelaide, SA
2018 Solar Art Prize, Royal South Australian Society of the Arts, Adelaide, SA
Student SALA Exhibition, Hill Smith Gallery, Adelaide, SA
On the Brink, Graduate Exhibition, Light Square Gallery (TAFESA Adelaide College of the Arts), Adelaide, SA
Education
2021 Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Art) Honours – Flinders University SA – First Class
2018 Bachelor of Creative Arts (Visual Art) – Flinders University SA – Highly Commended
2017 Advanced Diploma Visual Art – TAFE SA (Adelaide College of the Arts)
Grants/Awards/Prizes
2024 Country Arts SA Breaking Ground Award
2023 The Hospital Research Foundation Group - Creative Health Art Prize, finalist
2022 McHugh Award – Helpmann Academy
2021 Creative Boost Grant – Helpmann Academy
2020 Brighton Sculpture – Highly Commended Prize
2018 Hatched 2018 pre-selection, Perth Institute of Contemporary Art
Professional Development/Experience
2024-2025 Country Arts SA Breaking Ground Mentorship with Catherine Truman
2024 Helpmann Academy Creative Boost Grant
2022 Helpmann Academy Creative Innovator Program
2022 Helpmann Academy Creative Innovator Mentorship with Dean Toepfer
2022 Helpmann Academy Elevate Mentorship with Catherine Truman
2021 Helpmann Academy Creative Boost Grant
2021 Artist talk ‘sentient’ exhibition ACARTS and PICA
Membership of Professional Bodies
The Australian Ceramics Association (TACA)
Guildhouse
NAVA
Volunteer State Herbarium (Botanical Gardens of SA)