Susanna

Text on Method 1st Draft (March 20 2013)

Gently subversive and often desire-driven, my work is part rational critique part emotional homage. Often focusing on the idea of the obsessive archive and its subsequent sentimentalities, through my practice I aim to confront popular and personal histories with both humour and sincerity, following the lives of ideas rather than focusing on simply the start or the finish. Most recently these concerns have manifested themselves in bodies of work that are linked by their dealings with the idea of idiosyncratic collections inspired by the everyday. Most recently these concerns have manifested themselves in bodies of work that are linked by their dealings with the idea of idiosyncratic collections inspired by various iterations of the everyday.

In “Post-Painterly Abstraction,” feminism, class & labour, heightened personal interaction, and the history of appropriation were all themes as I visited a high-end nail salon that specialized in nail art, and had paintings by the 31 participants included in 1964 Clement Greenberg-curated exhibition of the same name (an artist per hand over the course of 9 months) re-created on my nails.

Country War Songs is a songbook printed in red, white and blue that contains the lyrics to contemporary country war songs written post 9/11.

I don't like to be so serious, I like to make art about things that I like. Things that peak my interest and often that is coming in from this outside world that includes pop culture and a cute puppy on the street, or I was recently talking to an artist and he said that if you feel like you're embarrassed, or you feel like you're laughing nervously, you're feeling a little bit unsure of an idea that you're having that's a very good place to start. I think that humour and embarrassment are sort of linked and that's something that I think about and value. I came from this city where the work that was being made was very cool and devoid of feeling and emotion, very academic and I think that I’ve been reacting to that in sort of a slow way, but its definitely there.