“I am influenced by what I see around my Brooklyn studio, by sensory memories, and by art old and new. Recently, I’ve been thinking about the palpable luminosity of a Cypriot sarcophagus and some of the Egyptian and Greek stele at the Metropolitan Museum. I admire the power and clarity of these monuments and how they address our bodies. I see the surfaces of my paintings as being both filled and emptied by the paint. I use color to alert the senses, create “sound,” and give life and breath to the forms. Shapes have direction, move in space (like us), and are oriented to the horizon. Looking at the paintings together can be oddly similar to watching dancers.”
Susan Wanklyn's work has been shown in New York, Chicago, Dallas and Marseilles. It has been reviewed in Art on Paper, The New York Times, Artforum, Art in America, and ARTnews. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Canada Council Arts Grant, among other awards. She grew up in Montreal, Quebec, and currently lives and works in Brooklyn.