About

Sue Field is an artist, designer, academic and author with a long history of working in the performing arts industry.

Sue has an extensive history of working in the performing arts as a production designer, academic, author and as an artist. Her art and research practice are in the inter-disciplinary field of expanded drawing; a scenographic intersection between moving image, performance and spatial drawing. Her drawing and research practice are inextricably linked.

Sue is also an expert in creative arts education and performance history, with extensive contributions to peer-reviewed research. She has written scholarly papers for journals, national and international conferences, and has published academic books and book chapters. She has wide-ranging experience in lecturing and teaching design, theory and practice-based education and research. She was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), UNSW Art & Design in 2019. Sue has published two monographs Anatomical Drawing: A Scenographic Intersection Between Science, the Visual Arts and Performance (2024) and The Scenographic Design Drawing: Performative Drawing in an Expanded Field, (2021) by Bloomsbury Publishing.

Sue has an extensive history in the performing arts industry as a production designer for drama, opera, physical theatre, event, film, music videos and television, comprising major collaborations and award-winning productions with Australia’s leading directors, producers, choreographers, festival and performance companies. Many of the live productions have toured nationally and internationally. Highlights include: Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bell Shakespeare), Aida (Victoria State Opera), Tannhäuser (Opera Australia), Parsifal (State Opera South Australia), Radiance, Dead City (Belvoir), All Of Me (Legs on the Wall) and Super League (Spectak). Sue’s designs for film and television include collaborations with Spectak International, Bazmark Inc, SBS, Beyond International Productions, Jack Morton Worldwide and Carabiner International. Highlights include: Rust Bucket directed by Robert Connolly, Passion (SBS Television) and I Do, I Do (Beyond International Productions). Her designs are part of the collections held at the Arts Centre Melbourne, Bell Shakespeare Co, National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), State Opera South Australia and Opera Australia. Her designs are also featured in the book Performance Design Australia (Fine Art Publishing Pty Ltd, 2001).

Sue’s primary passion is drawing and drawing processes. She is a scholar and practitioner in expanded drawing as an art practice. Her drawing Drift (Charcoal. ink and collage on watercolour paper) has recently been selected as a participant in Dobell Drawing Prize #23. Also, her drawing Drowning in My Living Room. Self Portrait (After Sherman), 152 x 171cm was selected from 370 submissions, and exhibited in the Temporal Drawing Exhibition, Loughborough University, UK (2021). Her process is documented in her recent peer-reviewed publication titled In the Blink-Of-An-Eye: Drawing as an Act of Loss by the online-journal, TRACEY: Drawing and Visualisation Research, UK.

Qualifications:

PhD, UNSW Art & Design, Australia (2019)

MDes (Honours), College of Fine Art, (COFA) UNSW, Australia (2012)

MDes (Coursework), College of Fine Art, (COFA) UNSW, Australia (1999)

BDA (Design), National Institute of Dramatic Art, NIDA, Australia (1996)