exhibition
Susan Schroeder, Meditations

About the exhibition

Susan Schroeder, Meditations
Solo exhibition of paper and dyed fabric works

The works, systemic explorations of colors in modular units, were initially derived from natural cycles and elements such as the seasons, sunrises and sunsets, air and water, and life itself.

The take form from materials and tools traditionally used by the artist, paper, pigments, and the brush, but also from those most often used by women, fabric, dye, and the sewing machine.

They evoke banners or laundry on the line as the gallery air currents disturb their un-stretched edges. They emphasize their strength and fragility in their presentation, with no stretchers, frames, or glass to protect and isolate them from a close inspection. They reveal (and conceal) their organization in coded notes still visible on some of the modules while directly stating their shape to color relationships.

Their immediate impact is sensuous as color regales the eye; however, their ultimate goal is intellectual as the systems emplyed become apparent and the viewer assesses the dramatic changes caused by a shift in color quantity and position within and between each work in an abstract cycle.

The newer works are more intuitive in their color relationships, patterns, and textures.  They continue to take shape from modules which have become smaller and sometimes more patterned than before.  To me they are analogues and meditations reflecting trends in the art of women for centuries.

– Susan Schroeder