I stopped by Notion Fine Art a few weeks ago to check out Connective Tissue, a show Suzanne Walsh had curated that also included a few of her pieces. I enjoyed talking to Suzanne about her thoughts on the Contemporary art scene, and thought it would be fun to have her drop by to talk more about her work. {Make sure to leave a comment if you want to be entered to win 2 free tickets to the Art Shack Show}.



suzanne: I lot of what I see (and like) in Contemporary art is part dream scape, part pop-culture mash-up. Artists very often use elements from the world around them to convey emotion. It was the Dadaists who first came up with the idea to do that literally. The Surrealists then built on that foundation and built it so well that representational painters are still exploring within it's footprint. It's all about the alchemy. Combining images together in such a way that both entices and repels your audience. The Surrealists understood that art could be a purely personal expression and still there would be endless ways to connect. The pop artists drew in the cultural references and all of the sudden it's anyone's subconscious. We're all in it together...



mj: How does the surreal influence your own work?

suzanne: At some point in my early childhood I saw "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" by Renee Magritte and although I cannot remember exactly when and where I do know that my desire to become an artist stemmed from there. You can see it in my work, the image is the phrase but also is not the phrase. I use type in my work constantly because I like that tension. It all goes back to the alchemy of emotion as each element is poured into the brain of the people you as an artist hope to connect with.



mj: Could you talk a little about the show you just curated? What was the starting point and how did it develop? What was the common thread among the artists that you chose for this show?

suzanne: I always go directly for what I love, over and over again. First I approach a show aesthetically and very much from the viewpoint of the audience. After that a concept forms. Oddly enough, for me, it is very limiting to come up with a theme or concept first and then find artists to include. It usually means the show is juried or you're making concessions or both. The artists in this particular show, Connective Tissue at Notion Fine Art were the first and only artists I had in mind - so it's a good thing they said yes! Major props to Ken Garduno, Tom Haubrick, Andrew Hem and Bryan Sheffield for being awesome people and incredible artists.

mj: Can you tell us a little about your previous work as a street artist? Do you still do it?

suzanne: I fall in love with cities and my desire is then to write to them by writing on them. I do the same thing with boyfriends actually. If I grab your hand across the table and start writing on you...it's all over. So my contributions were always romantic and whimsical. I would make handmade books, fill them and then toss them over bridges or leave them on park benches for someone to find. I left a book once in a cafe on the edge of a park in Geneva Switzerland. On the table were cigarette ashes left in perfectly separated half of an orange peel. I liked the way it looked, like evidence of a great conversation, so I took it as my signature. After a while I started in on "reclaimed sculpture" where I would paint objects that had been discarded, leaving them in the exact place I found them. I do it whenever the opportunity arises.

mj: How did you make the transition from being a street artist to what you do presently as an artist?


Suzanne's work in OsCene at the Laguna Art Musuem

suzanne: I took my first two pieces of pyrography to a lunch meeting with Grace Kook-Anderson, the curator of the Laguna Art Museum as a way of gauging her reaction. What she had seen up to that point were pen & ink drawings, half of which I had purposefully abandoned as "street art" and she thought enough of those to include me in the Oscene. It was just such a huge honor and a tremendous opportunity to do something new. I had no idea if I could pull-off a mural sized piece of "pyrography." I just took it one step at a time and hoped that I wouldn't screw up because I was building something I saw as very fine with materials that are rough and permanent. Your can't go back from spray paint and charred wood.



mj: Do you have a favorite piece that you've done?

suzanne: My favorite lately has been the album cover for Summer Darling (summerdarling.com). They were just so cool and responsive to the point of getting tattoos from it. It was the only project that gave me the same feeling I would get when I would leave a finished book behind or replaced a reclaimed sculpture. Just fun and for someone's benefit aesthetically.

mj: What are you working on now?

suzanne: I've got a solo-show coming up in January which is giving me enough time to embark on some very high levels of rendering. I'm going to my comfort level which is hyper emotional and kind of dark. I am asking my friends to pose for reference photos that are testing the limits of what my friends will do for me. Lots of "Okay, hike up into the foothills with me and lay in the brush in your best dress" or "Roll up your pants and stand in the ocean with this sailor hat on and your bike above your head."

Make sure and check out Suzanne's etsy shop and her cool products over at Zazzle.

Here are a few things you might not know about Suzanne Walsh:

A) THE FOUR MOST STYLISH PEOPLE THAT INFLUENCED ME:

1. David Bowie
2. Patti Smith
3. Kate Moss
4. my mom in her twenties, insanely beautiful

B) FOUR WAYS THAT STYLE MAKES THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE
1. Style has always been a great way to recycle and reuse
2. It is what gives the creative force a sense of direction
3. Beauty is style but style is not nessesarily beautiful. It is a neutral force.
4. It's a momentary distraction from eating and sex...

C) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE DESIGNERS
1. Alexander McQueen
2. Ian Miyawaki
3. Ann Demeulemeester
4. Diane Von Furstenberg

D) FOUR JOBS I HAVE HAD IN MY LIFE:
1. bicycle courier
2. textile designer
3. gallery director
4. (at long last) artist

E) FOUR MOVIES I WOULD WATCH OVER AND OVER (AND DO):
1. Young Frankenstien
2. Ghost Busters
3. Royal Tenunbaums
4. Cementary Man

F) FOUR PLACES WHERE I HAVE LIVED:
1. Boston, MA
2. Savannah, GA
3. Prague, CZ
4. Laguna Beach, CA

G) FOUR TV SHOWS I LOVE TO WATCH:
1. The Mighty Boosh (First two seasons)
2. Black Adder
3. The Soup
4. The Daily Show

H) FOUR PLACES I HAVE BEEN ON VACATION IN THE LAST FOUR YEARS:
1. Rome
2. Portland, OR
3. Rome, again
4. Paris

I) FOUR WEBSITES I VISIT DAILY (Or at least Weekly):
1. Flickr
2. my blog (http://ashesinorangepeels.blogspot.com/)
3. My Love for You is a Stampede of Horses
4. Mother Jones or just your standard "news" site

J) FOUR OF MY FAVORITE FOODS:
1. Unagi on rice
2. Lagunitas IPA
3. Red popsicles
4. Morning Star Veggie products

K) FOUR PLACES I WOULD RATHER BE RIGHT NOW:
1. Bicycling through the Villa Borghese in Rome
2. In front of my open refrigerator, snacking
3. Paris by the Seine, a little bit drunk
4. Prague, anywhere in the city

Thanks Suzanne for stopping by!

Labels: Andrew Hem, Bryan Sheffield, Ken Garduno, OsCene, suzanne walsh, Tom Haubrick