ABOUT SUZAN
Suzan’s formative years spent living in Japan are the strongest influence on her work. The American artist’s work as a writer, designer and teacher feed her art. Her award winning work has been exhibited in the Katonah and Monmouth Museums, Moravian College and Monmouth University, Stamford Arts Association and the Borrego Art Institute, Art Fair 14c and multiple galleries in solo and juried shows. She holds a post baccaluareate in Fine Arts from Kean University and was a professor of Sustainability at the Michael Graves College of Architecture. Suzan pursued additional studies at the Arts Students League and The National Academy Museum and School in NYC.
STATEMENT
My earliest experience of art was looking at the sumi ink paintings my parents displayed in our home in Japan when I was a child. Before I heard the term negative space, I was attracted to the shapes the white space made in the paintings. That which recedes for others is often what I notice first.
I have related personally to the idea negative space - the overlooked- most of my life. For years I was the youngest and only female in the room and now I frequently feel I inhabit negative space.
My work illuminates my idea of negative space. What is often unseen is a vital part of our collective reality whether it is in a work of art, a social system, or our environment. Society continues to define women narrowly with strict expectations of acceptable behavior, intellectual ability, and physical attributes. We place unyielding demands on women as well as our natural resources. My work brings attention to how females are perceived and humankind’s fraying relationship with the environment.
I use cast off materials such as tree bark, threads, scraps of canvas and detritus as both support and paint. Transforming the subject into something not immediately recognizable is intended to ignite curiosity and encourage viewers to question their assumptions.
Image Courtesy of SRS Photography