Sue Bridge is a painter and animator working in oils, gouache and moving image. Based in Folkestone on the south-east coast of England, her practice explores themes of women’s health, wellbeing, and our primal bonds with the elements. Her work moves between semi-abstract figurative painting, geometric abstraction, and animation, often responding to lived experience and embodied sensation.
In 2025, her painting ‘Solace of the Sea’ was accepted into the UCLH Arts Collection and shown at UCLH Street Gallery and HLTH25 Amsterdam. She won the Cass Art Prize for most innovative use of colour in 2023 and has been selected for exhibitions at Mall Galleries and Discerning Eye. Her animations have screened at Turner Contemporary and The Photographers’ Gallery, London.
Exhibitions / Film screenings
2026 Thaw, Street Gallery, UCLH, February 20 - May 14 2026
2026 We Rise, Fishlab Gallery, Whitstable, February 4 -10 2026
2025 The Love that Lasts Longest, Bruce Williams Gallery & The Horsebridge Whitstable, October
https://www.contemporarykentartists.co.uk/catalogue
2025 Mausi, Menopause Artivism in the UK, Sweden & India, Stephen Lawrence Gallery, Screening ‘The Last Egg’ University of Greenwich, October
MAUSI NET - University of Greenwich Galleries
2025 Where the Sky meets the Sea, University College London Hospital, Street Gallery, July - September
2025 Rai HLTH Conference, Amsterdam, June
2025 Beyond the Prize, Federation of British Artists, Mall Galleries, London April 16 - 26
2024 ‘Hot Topic, Menopause’ Screening ‘The Last Egg’ Women Over Fifty Film Festival 20 Oct, Garden Cinema, London
2024 Group show ‘Vilomah: Hidden Loss & Untold Futures’ 9-12 October, Casa Almeida, Caminha, Portugal
2024 Group show ‘Salt + Earth: A Reflection of the Self - Art & Archaeology of East Wear Bay’ Gallery 66, Folkestone 26 Sep - 7 Oct
2024 OpenArtFolke24 Art Festival - Open Studio, Folkestone 14 Sep & 21 Sep
2024 Solo show ‘Solace of the Sea’ 3-8 September, Fourth Wall Folkestone
2024 Exhibition of Abstract Art, ArtGallerySW, online
2024 Linden Hall Studio, Winter Show, Deal
2024 Folkestone Art Gallery, Winter Show
2023 ING Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London
2023 Studio 16 Connections, Folkestone Art Gallery
2023 Open studio, Studio 7, 56-58 Old High Street, Folkestone
2023 Subliminal Influences, Folkestone Art Gallery
2023 Subliminal Influences, Horsebridge Centre, Whitstable
2023 Royal Society Painters in Watercolours, Mall Galleries, London
2022 Xmas Open, Folkestone Art Gallery
2022 Winter Open, Lilford Gallery, Canterbury
2022 Land, Sea & Sky, Folkestone Art Gallery
2022 Embrace the elements, Neuron, Folkestone
2022 Your Menopause, animation screening, Lewes
2022 Positive Vibes, One New Street Art Gallery, Herne Bay
2022 Opening exhibition, Folkestone Art Gallery
2022 Aqua, Ryebank Gallery, Rye
2022 NEAC, Mall Galleries, London
2022 Seas the Day, Brewery Tap, UCA Project Space, Folkestone
2022 Dirty Secrets, Fronteer Gallery, Sheffield
2022 Jon Bird Open, Fishslab Gallery, Whitstable
2021 Zilch! I curated a group show on the theme of upcycled art, 8 Squared gallery, Folkestone
2021 Art Hug, Solo exhibition of paintings, 8 Squared gallery, Folkestone
2021 Open studio, Studio 7, 56-58 Old High Street, Folkestone
2021 Touchbase Gallery, Folkestone, Solo exhibition during Folkestone Triennial
2021 Animation selected for WRPN Women's International Film Festival, Delaware & JellyFest Los Angeles, CA USA
2020 Animation selected for WOFFF Film Festival, London, Experimental Forum, Los Angeles, CA USA. Mint Festival, Rotterdam
2019 Animation selected for ‘Strangelove Festival’ Turner Contemporary Margate, Photographers Gallery London, Hop Projects Folkestone, Fabrica Brighton
2019 ‘Identity’, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks
2017 ‘Brink’, Brew, Folkestone
2017 ‘Open Quarter’ Folkestone, Tontine St, B and B studios
2016 ‘Age of Austerity’ University of Kent, Chatham Dockyard
2016 ‘A1’ Horsebridge, Whitstable
2015 ’Memory’ Pie factory, Margate
2015 ‘In the Dock’ University of Kent, Chatham Dockyard
2015 ‘POST’ Fine Art Professional Development Programme, Tonbridge Art School
2015 ‘Art Spring’ Tunnel Art Gallery, Tonbridge
2014 ‘Sevenoaks Visual Arts Forum Open’ Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks
2014 ‘Tonbridge Arts Festival Open’ Commended
2014 ‘South East Area SEOS Showcase Exhibition’ Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sevenoaks
2014 ‘Art Spring’ Tunnel Art Gallery, Tonbridge
2013 ‘Fusion’ Kent College Pembury, Tunbridge Wells
2013 ‘Sue Walker Solo Exhibition’ Trinity Art Gallery, Tunbridge Wells
2013 ‘SEOS Sue Walker’ The Summer House, Tunbridge Wells
Collections
‘Solace of the Sea’ part of the collection at UCLH Arts, July 2025
Work held by private collectors across the UK, Germany and the United States
Education
2025 Birth Rites Collection Summer School, University of Kent, Canterbury
2016 Post graduate Fine Art Professional Development programme, Tonbridge Art School
2014 Slade Summer School
1985 BA (hons) Visual Communication, First Class, Birmingham City University
Bibliography
2023 Subliminal Influences review https://mailchi.mp/6bd441314370/subliminal-influences-show
2020 WOFFF Q & A Online Sue Bridge interviewed by Heidi McCormack, CEO Emerald Life https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=kqfh73wi7Fc&feature=emb_logo
2014 SEOS 2014 Showcase Exhibition Current News ’25 Members selected to show their work at this prestigious venue'
2014 Tonbridge Daily Online Review by Suzannah Niklas http://tonbridgedaily.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/tonbridge-artist-sue-walker-at-trinity.html
2013 Tonbridge Daily Online Review by Suzannah Niklas http://tonbridgedaily.blogspot.com/2013/06/tonbridge-artist-sue-walker.html