Artist's Statement
My paintings are reimaginings of my accumulated memories and observations. I create a sense of place and time, exploring the complexities with which we perceive the world. In our contemporary experience we are bombarded with a barrage of images. I represent a perceptual reality from this montage of imagery--snapshots mitigated by memory and the light that illuminates it all.
For years I have been taking photographic notes and collecting imagery that serves as a collective library of subjects to draw upon when creating paintings and collages. When I work, I often weave together images from sometimes completely different sources or perhaps intertwine multiple perspectives of the same place. I collage the photos digitally or with scissors and glue, creating composites that I paint from. The synthesis may be subtle or presented as an open dialogue as in a diptych. This conversation between imagery is at the center of my work. There is no formula.
I develop a bond with my subjects, often creating a series of works based on the same place or structure. I attach meaning to the inanimate world, houses become bystanders to a drama of sorts, as I try to elevate suburban landscapes into psychological portraits.
Though I operate out of an American Realist tradition I also draw upon aesthetic inventions from Surrealism and Pop Art--all artists who represent the ordinary in extraordinary ways.
artist's bio
Susan Barrett
Susan Barrett is a New York based artist whose work has been exhibited in the New York Metropolitan area and throughout the Hudson Valley. Recently, she had a solo exhibition at the Anna Bisland Historic 1928 House, Transformative Light, Real & Imagined and was included in Time, a curated group show at BAU Gallery in Beacon, NY. This year, she won the honorable mention award for her three paintings included in Of an Era: an International Juried Show, at the Trolley Barn Gallery, Poughkeepsie NY curated by Jova Lynne, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit MI; as well as being included in various juried exhibits. Barrett did her undergraduate work at Rhode Island School of Design and New York University. She then received an M.A. in painting from Hunter College as well as a degree in art education. She has been teaching for over 25 years.