Homage: Painting and Sculpture by Susan Morrison

“All human life involves movement – from the blood coursing through our veins to the first breath of air. My work embodies movement – the movement we experience as we live through time. It is this journey – that can range from moments of celebration to moments of anguish – which we all travel and which the work addresses.

The language I speak is the language of line, shape, and color moving in space. These elements construct a composition of positive and negative space – the presence and absence, the yin and yang of the visual world. The relationships inherent in the interaction of these elements tell a story – the story the artist speaks and the story the viewer interprets. The literal narrative is not a limit I impose on this process. I engage the viewer in a dialogue that is both personal and universal.

I work with Oil on canvas and Oil on Paper in my two dimensional work. I find the oil colors to have the most depth and resonance. In addition, they aren’t quick – they dry over time – and so are mutable, changeable, alive.

In my three dimensional work, I work with Steel and Fiber, sometimes with the addition of Hardware Cloth for support or as part of the design. A sculpture teacher I had, Bella Feldman, once said ‘The closest thing to welding is sewing’. In both cases, you are making a seam.

Unfortunately, gender roles often separated the welders (except for Rosy the Riveter and those women who then lost their jobs after the men returned from the war) from the seamstresses. I explore a fluidity in both media – an intersection that provides new possibilities for both.

Movement becomes gesture – the gesture of love for the world in all its pain and glory.”

About the Artist

A Northern California native, which informed her sense of color and scale, Susan Morrison received a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art and an MFA from the Pennsylvania State University. Currently a Professor Emerita of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, she creates both 2D and 3D work.