Much of the work of Susan Derges revolves around the creation of visual metaphors exploring the relationship between the observer and the observed; the self and nature or the imagined and the 'real'.
Characteristically, her practice has involved cameraless, lens-based, digital and reinvented photographic processes, and encompasses subject matter informed by landscape and abstraction as well as the physical and biological sciences. Derges endeavours to capture invisible scientific and natural processes - the continuous movement of water, the evolution of frogspawn or the cycles of the moon. Her practice reflects the work of the earliest pioneers of photography but is also very contemporary in its awareness of environmental issues and the complexity of its conceptual meanings.
In her most recent works, Soul of the Underground, Susan Derges has experimented with new printing methods to create a series of photogravures in which she presents variations based on her unique works. This series reveals a strong attachment to the printing craft, its infinite possibilities, and the time and precision it requires. The Japanese and oriental influences that have fuelled Susan Derges' works are very much present in the photogravures, in their tonal qualities, textures and choice of paper.
