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I’m interested in transforming the frenetic impulse of the every day into a calming,
meditative hum.
An artist residency at Youkobo Art Space in Tokyo several years ago influenced my work in
myriad ways. My time in Japan caused me to think carefully about air, about breathing,
about osmosis, a kind of unconscious assimilation or gathering of information through the
atmosphere.
Pyrographs /burn drawings
These works are a meditation on topography, expressive of air, of breathing, of atmosphere
suggestive of deep space as well as a kind of molecular intimacy. They are informed by the
great prairies of the Midwest, vast acres burned every spring to restore nitrogen to the soil,
a fertility ritual in a way, and by the undulating horizon lines of the Flint Hills beneath
which limestone is embedded with fossils from prehistoric times when the land was an
underground sea.
The pyrographs are works on paper created through a scorching or burning process. I’m
interested in the transformation of the material, the process of drawing the mark from
within the paper, itself. Their subject matter has evolved from architectural infrastructure,
to a series of portrait silhouettes relating to camouflage, mapping, interior states of being,
and finally and always, to the seminal relationship of the body to the landscape.
Thorn works
I work with the thorns from the honey locust tree to create large-scale installations and
discrete sculptures related to architectural form. I think of these works as threedimensional drawings; the sculptures as drawings in space and the wall installations
similar to crosshatch drawings as they make their way across the wall.
The thorns grow up and around the trunk as well as along the branches of the honey locust.
They are dangerous and much defiled and difficult to work with, yet I respond to their
elegance of form and the cultural metaphors they suggest. With the pencil point tip of a
burning tool I make a hole through which the natural thorns are self-doweled. It is a slow
and meditative process.
In addition to working with thorns in their natural state, I have begun casting them in
bronze. Hesitant at first to embrace this classic media, I have come to value its ability to
capture both the ominous qualities and the elegant geometry that compelled me to work
with the thorns originally.
Thorn Flags
I began an ongoing series of American flags in 2012.
The first was a complete flag exhibited on the gallery wall at Cara y Cabezas in Kansas City.
I regarded it as an expression of the contentious nature of American democracy. It
appeared somewhat fragile, almost lace-like. The thorns represented the elegance of the
theory of democracy while emblematic of the difficult, almost painful, aspects of democracy
in practice.
The second sculpture in 2014 was a partial flag with some of the thorns having fallen to the
floor of the Haw Gallery where it was displayed. The country seemed to be in a growing
state of disarray and distress.
The third flag was a variation on this partial flag exhibited at the Mid America Arts Alliance
in Kansas City, Missouri.
The fourth thorn flag has grown larger and denser with deep shadows. It is more
expressive of the magnitude of conflict and dissension within America today. It is exhibited
vertically, suspended above the viewers’ heads in the former Chiesa di San Francesco in an
exhibition in Como, Italy.
Video and Installation
Video and installation provide a means of exploring the everyday. Whether personal notes
and drawings, imagery of a construction seemingly at the top of the world, or work gloves
retrieved from a manufacturing plant as part of an installation, this work is often designed
as a lure, to draw people in to an unfamiliar area, an institution, or an underutilized part of
the city.
My work has been supported by grants from the Arts Council of Metropolitan Kansas City, the
Salina Art Center, The Lighton International Artist Exchange Program, The Avenue of the Arts
Foundation, Creative Capital Foundation Professional Development Workshop, the Daum
Museum and the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art. It is found in the collections of the
Nerman Museum, Sprint Corporation, Hallmark Cards, Inc., Shook, Hardy & Bacon, the
Stowers Institute, H&R Block Corporation and numerous other corporate and private
collections. Writings about my work have been published in ArtPapers, The Kansas City Star,
Review, The Reader, and The Salina Journal, along with various other print and on-line
publications.
Susan White
2019
The Thorn Flags Statement, 2012 – 2021
vitae.pdf
statement.pdf
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