My senior seminar class visited the studio of artist Susana Heller in Greenpoint, NY last week. Her studio was in this old warehouse building right near McCarren Park; it was really beautiful. Susana herself was this energetic, skinny woman who spoke about her work and life with sincerity and deep passion. Her demeanor was very personable and informal - she was eager to expose her process and her thoughts in her work, including the story behind her most recent pieces, which involved her husband's near death hospitalization. I have found that many established artists, mostly those represented by large galleries (such as Judith Linhares) will conceal much of the thought behind their work, in an effort to maintain the mysteriousness that exists, to keep the viewers guessing and inquiring rather than put all of the information out on the table. This is a conflict that I have within my own work as an artist - how much do I tell you, be it with words or with paint?
Aside from her paintings of her husband, she had been in her studio location in 2001 during the 9/11 attack and painted from the chaos and destruction of the city which followed. She also considers herself an avid walker; she walks all over the cities, and is fascinated with the movement, the people, the energy of New York City, so she draws and paints about this affect on her.
Susana doesn't have a website but some of her work from a show is displayed on the Olga Korper Gallery website here: http://olgakorpergallery.com/artists.html
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