Early Life
Suanna Rosier was born in 1966 in Aden, Yemen. She was the first daughter of John Rosier, a decorated army officer in the British army and Carol Rosier, an award winning actress. Suanna's early years were nomadic, as the family travelled the world following her father's postings. A memorable move was to Kenya, and Africa influenced her art. This habit of moving remained with her until she finally settled into a quant village in Hereford, just before her 50th birthday. During her childhood, she visited many museums and galleries where she came across artists' works such as Paul Nash and Stanley Spencer at the Imperial War Museum. These had a profound affect on her, particularly Paul Nash's The Menin Road which haunted her when her father was posted to war zones.
Having trained initially as a Montessori Directress in London, Suanna became a teacher in renowned public schools in Surrey before gaining a science degree at Worcestershire University and a formal teaching qualification at Canterbury, Kent. After 25 years of teaching, she retrained as an artist in Malvern.
Throughout her life, art had always been an interest for Suanna. She often took recreational classes in painting, pottery and sculpture resulting in a collection of work which she give away to family and friends. Her interests in biology, the environment and her Christian faith showed in her collection of botanical illustrations, and paintings of her garden and the local countryside.
Having trained initially as a Montessori Directress in London, Suanna became a teacher in renowned public schools in Surrey before gaining a science degree at Worcestershire University and a formal teaching qualification at Canterbury, Kent. After 25 years of teaching, she retrained as an artist in Malvern.
Throughout her life, art had always been an interest for Suanna. She often took recreational classes in painting, pottery and sculpture resulting in a collection of work which she give away to family and friends. Her interests in biology, the environment and her Christian faith showed in her collection of botanical illustrations, and paintings of her garden and the local countryside.
Army Uniform
John Rosier's Officer's Hat, 1982
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An early, happy memory for Suanna was seeing her father, in full uniform, on parade. She would watch with pride as he took the salute from his men. A fascination grew in the vast array of uniforms she saw, worn by different ranked soldiers in different units.
This interest resulted in a collection of studies of military headwear which was exhibited at The School of Ordinance, Deepcut. The exhibition consisted of water colour and acrylic paintings, as well as fine drawings. She had an eye for detail and texture. This drawing is of her father's hat which he wore when he received on of his medals from Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth 1. |
Africa
Joining her father on a posting to Kenya in 1984, resulted in a love for Africa and its peoples. Suanna joined a campaign in 1986 to petition against the use of child soldiers after visiting rehabilitation centres and orphanages in Sierra Leone and Somalia. There she met children, rescued from guerrilla armies, who had used young children as fighters, cooks, suicide bombers, human shields, messengers, spies, or for sexual purposes. She saw how education was helping to reintegrate these children back into society. This may have been why Suanna became a teacher for nearly 25 years.
This water colour painting, a protest against children being used in warfare, was exhibited beside works by other artists at the Kenyan Embassy in London in 1995. Suanna said "Many child soldiers end up desensitised to violence, at a very formative time in their development. This can psychologically damage them for life. A lot of them are also traumatised by what they have been forced to do or witnessed. The horror can be seen in their eyes, but there is hope, if we can get to them in time." |
Akashi, aged 12
Akashi means God's Hand and this was the new name he chose for himself. Suanna's semi-impressionist portrait of Akashi, captured the haunting look he had when he first arrived at a centre. She used fine brushwork in the foreground and helped to show how memories of the past fade by blurring the background. |
Justified War?
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War in History
Like so many war artists, Suanna often painted portraits of war heroes. But it was the years of Holy Wars or Crusades in the middle ages that caught her imagination. It was real religious fervour that impelled thousands of Christians to travel into the unknown and face unimagined hardships in a quest to earn salvation by reclaiming their sacred sites. This did not stop them, however, attacking the eastern Christians of Byzantium on the way to establish lucrative trading relationships with their Muslim enemies. Suanna found this time of history difficult to reconcile with and she battled with the justifications of war. She painted this young crusader, with his blooded sword, contemplating his actions and purposes of war. The harrowing look in his eyes as he holds his sword like a cross reflected Suanna's person battle when family and friends went to war in the Falklands in 1982, and the Gulf War of 1990/1. She said, "We never seem to learn from history. Wars have been fought in the name of religion but often it just comes down to trade; now its oil. How can we as Christians justify this? It pains me to see young men fighting for land that has oil and our governments call this just." |
Suanna continues to use her art to protest in paintings that are dark and foreboding. Although never an official war artist, her paintings portray the complex mix of feelings - from pride to horror, that many feel when contemplating the role of the modern soldier.