SUSAN ENGLISH
NIGHT, SO DAYLIGHT
NIGHT, SO My work is inspired by light. I draw upon daily observations of light in relation to the natural world and the built environment to create colors, atmospheres, and surfaces in my abstract paintings. Over the past decade, I have developed a process of pouring layers of tinted polymer on panel, which I then manipulate so the paint collects or cracks. This process has expanded the breadth of what I can achieve with color and surface. The poured polymer mimics nature: a layer of polymer hardens like ice or mud, its thickness and viscosity impacting how the surface dries. The variations on the surface and the quality of the color are the result of a delicate and flexible relationship between control and accident. I assemble the poured panels into specifically calibrated horizontal or vertical sequences, creating a narrative of color, space and light. The surfaces range from dull to glossy, either absorbing or reflecting the light, existing always in relationship to the light in the room or the position of the viewer.
DAYLIGHT The show title is after a poem by Minimalist poet Aram Saroyan: night so daylight A group of words that succinctly describe an essential quality of light – it exists only in relationship to it’s opposite, darkness and also the causal relationship between night and day. It also speaks metaphorically to the range of emotions we experience and that causal relationship – you don’t have highs without lows. Although my work is about light it is also about the range of emotions that colors and atmospheres evoke. The span from darkness to light. People comment that my works are “serene” which they are sometimes. But there is more drama to them than first meets the eye. If they are serene, it is often a hard won serenity – struggle is a part of the creative process. Lightness is born from darkness.
-SUSAN ENGLISH
Sweep tinted polymer on panel 34" x 88"
detail
Intervals No. 3, tinted polymer on aluminum, 25" x 72"
Caesura, tinted polymer on panel, I 6" x 16" Atmosphaerae No. 5, watercolor on arches, 16" x 15"
Caesura tinted polymer on panel 16" x 16"
Atmosphaerae No. 5 watercolor on arches 16" x 15"
Night, So Daylight tinted polymer on aluminum 42" x 39"
detail
Shade tinted polymer on aluminum 44" x 42"
detail
A Nocturne tinted polymer on panel 22" x 56"
detail
Horizontal / Vertical tinted polymer on panel 45" x 56"
Eye Rhyme tinted polymer on panel 29" x 28"
detail
TOP LEFT:
RIGHT:
Atmosphaerae No. 6 watercolor on arches 15" x 15"
Atmosphaerae No. 4 watercolor on arches 18" x 15"
BOTTOM LEFT: Atmosphaerae No. 1 watercolor on arches 16" x 15"
Atmosphaerae No. 2 watercolor on arches 18" x 15"
Atmosphaerae No. 3Â watercolor on arches 16" x 15"
Atmosphaerae No. 7 watercolor on arches 22" x 22"
BIO Susan English's abstract paintings are concerned with color, light, and surface, and explore the properties and possibilities of materials. The New York Times has described her work as “sublime” and “buoyant.” In the last decade, English has developed a process of pouring layers of tinted polymer on panels that has expanded the breadth of what she can achieve with color and surface in abstract works. After pouring the tinted polymer, English manipulates the panel so the paint collects or cracks. The poured polymer mimics nature: a layer of polymer hardens like ice or mud —its thickness and viscosity impacting how the surface dries. The variations on the surface and the quality of the color are the result of a delicate and flexible relationship between control and accident. English assembles the poured panels into specifically calibrated horizontal or vertical sequences, creating a narrative of color, space and light. The surfaces range from dull to glossy, either absorbing or reflecting the light, existing always in relationship to the light in the room or the position of the viewer. Susan English was awarded an artist residency at Ucross Foundation, Clearmont, WY (2018); a fellowship at the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts, Ithaca, NY (2016); She worked as a Teaching Artist at DIA:Beacon, and was a founding member of Collaborative Concepts in Beacon, NY. In 2008 she co-curated (with Jaanika Peerna) Drawing Revealed at the Garrison Art Center, Garrison, NY. The exhibition included the production of a documentary on artists’ drawing processes. English’s work has been featured in The New York Times, Widewalls Magazine, Whitehot Magazine, Chronogram, Abstract Art Online, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The Highlands Current. She received an MFA from Hunter College in New York City and a BA from Hamilton College, Clinton, NY. She lives and works in Cold Spring, NY.