October 2, 2012
Dark and Light
Combine in Brooklyn
Sculptor’s Work at Lux
by Patricia
Morris Buckley,
North county Times
North
County Times http://www.nctimes.com/entertainment/arts-and-theatre/visual/dark-and-light-combine-in-brooklyn-sculptor-s-work-at/article_c7803f58-9362-5b6c-aec0-d3026ca5ecb8.html
The conversation
in artist Susan Graham's
childhood home could be
quite ordinary, until the
subject of the end of the
world came up. And it came
up often.
"I had many
relatives who were
Christian fundamentalists,
so they talked about the
end of the world a lot,"
said Graham, who grew up
on an Ohio farm. She's now
based in Brooklyn. "There
was always the fear of a
natural disaster."
Her childhood
has always informed her
sculptures, including a
sense of foreboding, a tie
to nature and a love of
crafts. Today she is known
for her sculptures of hard
things such as pieces of
machinery, created through
the sugar or
porcelain.
For instance, in
one exhibition, she
created a lawnmower, guns
and trucks in porcelain.
Taking such a common
object and making it look
pure or endearing is
jarring to the senses,
which is exactly what she
intends.
"The materials I
use give the feeling of
domesticity or sweetness,"
she said in her artist's
statement. "The subjects
are ones that make me
uncomfortable."
Graham, who
opens a residency at the
Lux Art Institute in
Encinitas today, is the
only artist in her family.
But her grandmother lived
close by and had a craft
club.
"What she did is
nothing like what I do,"
she said. "She would make
things like salt-dough
flowers. But that's how I
knew the possibilities of
sugar."
Graham moved to
New York City for grad
school, but found she
couldn't afford the
tuition. Instead, she put
all her money into a
studio, and she began to
work. She had no money or
tools, so she remembered
her grandmother and
started to craft objects
from sugar.
"There's a
history of sugar
sculptures," she said.
"Henry Tudor had ornate
sugar centerpieces he used
at celebrations. I was
using sugar alone for a
while before I started
soaking it in resin to
make it last longer. A
friend suggested I use
porcelain so I could do
something permanent.
Porcelain looks like
sugar, so it struck a
chord in me. But I still
do temporary pieces as
well."
Graham's
sculptures and photographs
(she often captures images
of natural disasters) have
been displayed at the
Bronx Museum of Arts, the
Whitney Museum at Phillip
Morris and the Neuberger
Museum of Art.
While at the Lux
Art Institute, Graham will
return to creating a
temporary piece of art.
She is re-creating a toile
wallpaper with sugar
that's reminiscent of the
wallpaper she had in her
home growing up. Once
again, she'll be drawing
from her childhood for
inspiration.
"This is the way
I process images and
objects," she said. "I
like to conquer and tame
things that bother me. One
way to do that is to
transform it into
something that's mine."
Graham will be
in residency at Lux
through Oct. 6. As part of
Lux's mission, visitors
will be able to watch her
at work in the studio.
After she leaves, her work
will remain on exhibit
through Oct. 27.
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