ARTISTS STATEMENT

 

A friend of mine asked me how I think up the ideas for my work. I replied that it wasn’t so much a matter of thinking up ideas, as it was of getting out of the way so that the ideas could emerge from within.

I build the armature for my sculpture out of foam core, cardboard and/or recycled materials. When I am building the armature, I have a very clear idea of what I want the finished piece to look like. Once the armature is complete, I cover it with a paper mache clay made from boiled newspaper, PVA glue, plaster and linseed oil. The paper mache is quite hard when it is dry and I can easily shape it with wood files. I then apply several coats of gesso, giving me a lovely, blank canvas on which to put down the layers of oil glazes I use for the finishes. 

Starting to paint is the most exciting and most intimidating part of the process. It is now that I begin to see what this piece might look like finished and sometimes it looks very different than what I first imagined. The work might now flow easily or I might begin to argue with it; I want the piece to look one way and the piece wants to look another. In the end the piece always wins. For the times when the work just flows to finish, I am grateful and delighted. For the times when I struggle to the finish, I am also grateful--enriched by the journey down a path unimagined and in awe of the creative force within.

 

Susan Ryan, 2011