Woman Tied to a Pole, 1984. Photo-etching
Exploring with Sue Coe is no gentle stroll through cloistered sanctuaries of art. She makes uncompromising demands. She demands to speak freely. She demands viewers go eye-to-eye with the equivalent of road kill. She demands unflinching openness in full view of painful contradictions. Essentially, Coe demands that we re-examine our assumptions. When reading her books or looking at her images, the natural reaction is to turn away, to shut out horrific truths. One cannot meet her work without encountering resistance. This is inevitable, because this is her intent.