Suzanne Wright

SUZANNE WRIGHT

On view January 22 – February 23, 2018

Reception January 25th from 5 - 9pm

Pomona College Art Lecturer Suzanne Wright will exhibit her work in the north space of Chan Gallery. Artworks will include collage, painting, and sculptural mixed media works. Following are the artist’s words regarding her practice and work that will be exhibited Salon style with older and newer works adjacent to one another:

"Going through a tunnel or getting lost is simultaneously thrilling and terrifying. New paths open while others are lost as the landscape of the journey changes. Visual openings are paths that carry us through an object or into the depths of a mass. Traditionally tunnels signify anxiety, danger, and darkness. My portal and cockpit series plays on such expectations and uses them to create an opening of “Queer” space—stages available for action. The collages, paintings, sculptures and color-pencil drawings of divine glory holes and cosmic portals play on the unexpected directions holes can take. The portals that flow through my work pull the viewer into the plane of the canvas or wood and sometimes through, to the outside world.

My art and research practice is multifaceted. Being an active member of ACT UP/New York from 1989-1996 and many other art collectives - has profoundly shaped my understanding of the systemic nature of discrimination and oppression, as well as the ways in which art can be a tactic of resistance and enlightenment. My practice and the new body of work has centered on both the negative and positive sides of social authority and control. Carl Jung philosophy calls it: “the shadow”, the deep journey of interiority, truth, and psychology. The paradoxical truth of the psyche is that to ascend, we must go down first.

The “un-Monumental” series comes from researching the history of “secret architecture” and Google Earth mapping of the Washington Monument. These paintings and collages create alternative frames of reference with a new perspective, in hopes of a regenerated kind of perception. I deeply believe the world is experiencing the emergence of this shadow more than ever before and have confidence that healing, liberation, creativity, and empowerment become possible when we engage in connection and the creation of art."

Suzanne Wright, January 2018

Organized by the artist and Tricia Avant