The Work Before

The Work Before is an exhibition of a series of works by prominent New Brunswick visual artist Suzanne Hill. Through observing the work and rehearsal of the Atlantic Ballet, Hill photographed, watched, and sketched dancers – their clothing, preparation for class, exercises and movements. the stretching and warming of bodies. The dancers rehearsed, worked and repeated, worked and repeated until their actions were “right”.

Through this experience and through the trial and error of creating pieces that expressed the stress, conflict, and motion of bodies at work, (multitudes of sketches, experiments with media, photo transfers, false starts), Hill began to explore notions of ritual and pattern within arts practises and the hard work that goes into any artistic product of value. Hill developed a deeper awareness of the work that goes into the development and maintenance of a dancer’s body as an expressive medium.

The result is a series of striking visual images in collage and layered drawings that illustrate Hill’s artistic process of development, suggesting the extensive work that happens both “pre-performance” and “pre-visual art presentation”.