1. Home
  2. The Fourth Plinth Artwork Voting

The Fourth Plinth for W4

A changing artwork chosen by you

Current Artwork – Suzan Inceer, A Quiet Sarnie under the Tree of Life

Suzan writes: I wanted to squirt some humour into the over-used visual symbol ‘The Tree of Life.’ This is a real show-off of an old oak tree that says: ‘I am here’… and  what’s more I have been here a lot longer than you and  I will continue to reach out  beyond you and in spite of  you! The totem pole-like branches are all-embracing, open and welcoming. Please imagine that the red twig-tips (twiglets?) are tickling YOU in particular!

This oak is peopled. There are some very individual individuals nestling in its boughs, including three birds, the Chiswick seal, a trio of Penny Orangutangs  (hello to a previous W4th Plinth artwork), four friendly dogs. There are conversations, some posing, reading, eating…

The tree is bustling like our fabulous capital city at its best. Meanwhile the flamboyant dude sitting under this tree full of daily life is having a moment of contemplation, eyes closed, before he snaffles his sarnie. He is comfortable, it’s ‘his’ bench.

Please sit here too and take a few moments away from your endeavours. Maybe wonder about the characters; make up your own stories. Everyone’s a character, every life is fascinating.

Suzan Inceer was born in Shipley West Yorkshire to mixed English-Turkish parentage. She studied fine art in Liverpool, and illustration at Central St Martins, moving to Turnham Green in the late 1980s. After periods spent hand painting T- shirts, spray painting shop props and lots of waitressing, she began working as a freelance illustrator for trade magazines, including a series for the Guardian. Much of her 2D work is influenced by having worked in catering – she often depicts people eating, dancing, carousing.

After a period travelling the world she began to work as a workshop artist in education and health care settings. She devises workshops (recycling is a speciality) and has painted murals for amongst others the Big Draw, the Campaign for Drawing, Children and the Arts.

Inceer has exhibited at diverse venues including London’s Southbank, Cupola Gallery Sheffield, Spazza Art Gallery Johannesburg, Leeds City Art Gallery, Dorset Art Week. Many of her pieces are in private collections.
insta: @inceer.art

The W4th Plinth is an art project curated by Abundance London. Every six months the large image on the TfL brick wall of the railway embankment at Turnham Green Terrace will change, showcasing an exciting artwork, short-listed by Abundance and voted on by the public.

View previous entries.

Follow the Fourth Plinth for W4 on Instagram.