ARTIST SPOTLIGHT
Lafayette Street in Paris(Oil Stick & Pencil)
PHOTOS BY MARLEN LUNA LIFE: Greenville artist Susan Martin Meggs has a master’s
in England. Honors include the Marquis and the Covington
degree in educational administration from Fordham
Who’s Who in America, and the ECU Scholar-Teacher and
University and a master of fine arts in painting from
Wall of Fame awards.
the University of Wisconsin. She has worked in a variety of media, including sculpture; printmaking; oil, acrylic
ARTIST INFLUENCES: Her art is strongly influenced
and watercolor painting; drawing in pen and ink, pencil
by her surroundings as a sense of place. As a personal,
and oil pastels; mixed media; and environmental and
engaged experience, a sense of place becomes a
performance art.
constantly morphing transformation of identity relative to past and present. Her works are largely divided between
CAREER: Susan lived In New York for 30 years in the
personalized graphic interpretations of landscapes and
vibrant SOHO art district and worked as an exhibit
cityscapes.
designer, commercial artist, educational administrator
Common elements linking various series involve
and professor at The Cooper Union, Pratt Institute,
the perception of the effects of light and shadows.
Western Connecticut State University, New York Institute
Architectural
of Technology and College of New Rochelle. She exhibited
shown affected by light and/or atmospheric or weather
at Sotherby’s and was curator of exhibits and education for
conditions. Larger landscape drawings depict the local
the National Museum of the American Indian and a guest
environment where the imagery of new growth is seen
lecturer in Native American art and culture at colleges
in relationship to decaying structures, which serve as a
throughout the East Coast.
metaphor for the cycle of life. Embedded in some of these
After moving to North Carolina, Susan joined the art faculty at East Carolina University and served as a
structures
and
natural
elements
are
works are physics equations that represent a theory to explain the origins of life.
member of the Honors College faculty. She is professor emeritus in the department of interior design. Her
WHERE CAN YOU FIND HER WORK? Her work in
research publications have focused on service-learning,
response to the COVID-19 pandemic is on display at
interdisciplinary pedagogy for art and healthcare, and the
Joyner Library through Nov. 30. The black and white
use of virtual reality as a learning environment. She has
prints, “COVID-19 Series,” represent a personal response
presented scholarly papers nationally and internationally,
to the pandemic and an interest in the effect of light and
including Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sapienza
cast shadows. In this series, people are seen only as cast
University in Rome, and Glasgow and Chester Universities
shadows, eliminating a presence. Images are paradoxical
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HerHer Magazine Magazine — November — April 2021 2021
www.reflector.com/her NichePubs
