Suzanne Chandler
Artist Statement
To discuss my body of work as a whole I can only think of one way to express
my direction. Whether I am working with charcoal, painting, clay, metal,
or fibers, my work tends to have an organic feel. This is due to my fascination
with the relationship of nature and the industrial world. The idea that the
human race has influence over both and can force one to overpower the other
is an interesting concept to me.
Recently, I have been influenced by the modern artist of Piet Mondrian. His
simplistic style has encouraged me to work with an underlying composition of
simple square and rectangle shapes much like his paintings. This simple composition
is then overlaid and counter balanced with a more complicated organic composition.
I am working with different fabrics to create a larger depth of space. With
these works, the underlying composition relates to the static of the industrial
world, while the composition placed over this is more organic, which expresses
the idea of nature.
This idea is expressed in some way through most of my work. For example, when
I was creating rings out of sterling silver, I was compelled to cast a ring
that would look like cut wood rather than metal. This once again expresses
my fascination with the idea of nature v. the industrial world. The idea that
sterling silver could be cast to look like another medium that was derived
in nature is interesting to me and made me realize that the relationship between
the two was closer than I had once thought.