LIVING WITH INSPIRATION
From Major Exhibitions to Intimate Home Spaces
By Danielle Viguera, Western Home Journal
Nature’s Resurgence 3 | 48” x 60” | Susan Swartz
Susan Swartz paints for joy. After battling two chronic environmentally-linked illnesses, Susan is often asked why she doesn’t create work around themes of nature’s fragility or its demise. But dwelling in the negative is not where she finds inspiration. She leans toward the light rather than the darkness. Susan wants to see the silver lining in hard times and the goodness that can come from difficulties. She finds the beauty in life and passes it along in her work.
During her recovery, Susan not only made major changes to her lifestyle, but her art changed dramatically as well. She found herself moving away from realism and toward more emotional, abstract works. She tapped into a new way of thinking and unleashed a fierceness in her experimental process. Inspired by a deepened reverence for the healing power of nature and its gifts, she began creating bolder, more sculptural paintings, using her art to call attention to the beauty and fragility of the Earth.
Previously known for her realistic landscape paintings, Susan recently marked the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Olympic Games, where she was the official environmental artist. That milestone, which occurred just prior to her diagnoses, also serves as the starting point of the evolution of her work into what it is today.
Especially relevant after the recent global pandemic, Susan’s current artwork sends a message of renewal and healing. A much-needed perspective, the positivity and joy that her paintings evoke inhabit any area—private or public—where her work is displayed.
Many individual collectors believe that those feelings translate exceptionally well into their homes. The richness in color and texture of her paintings enhances and influences the auras of their spaces. With elegant and organic composition, the art connects with the viewers and often calls up emotional responses. Bringing a vibrancy and energy, her work allows collectors to find a greater understanding and appreciation of the natural world around them as they live alongside her paintings.
Susan is keenly aware of the effect she wishes her art to have while she is creating it. She chooses to paint in a small studio within her house because she believes in harnessing the love that fills a home and infusing it into her work. Oftentimes, she will even take a piece she is working on into different areas of her home to see how it could reside in someone else’s space. Exercises like this help her further understand the people who want to coexist with her art forever.
Evolution of Nature Series | Three Dimensions Exhibition | Hermann Noack Galerie, Berlin | Susan Swartz
“WHEN I PAINT FOR MYSELF, I PAINT FOR MY HEALTH.
WHEN I PAINT FOR THE HEALTH OF THE EARTH, I PAINT FOR EVERYTHING THAT I STAND FOR. AND FINALLY, WHEN I CREATE BY STAYING TRUE TO MY VALUES AND MY VOICE, THERE IS NOTHING BUT JOY TO BE FOUND IN THE PROCESS.”
—Susan Swartz
Evolving Visions Series | 72” x 72” | Melides Art Community Portugal | Susan Swartz
“I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN THE ALCHEMY THAT EXISTS BETWEEN NATURE AND ART. WITH COVID, THE IMPORTANCE OF A STRONG IMMUNE SYSTEM IS CRITICAL. AS I WAS WORKING TO BUILD MY OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM, THE THOUGHT CAME TO ME THAT I SHOULD INCLUDE THESE ELEMENTS IN MY PAINTINGS SO THE WORLD COULD REFLECT ON THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR NATURAL FOODS.”
—Susan Swartz
Evolution of Nature 20 | 60” x 60” | Susan Swartz
In Susan’s latest series, Evolution of Nature, she built up surfaces with more three-dimensional applications of paint and has integrated the natural elements that she used to heal her body. Starting with herbs, grasses, and seeds and moving to fruits and vegetables, all of the different components that are incorporated into her work are also the same things Susan continues to ingest to stay healthy. The paintings exude energy and momentum directly connected to the medicinal power of food and Susan’s personal story of recovery.
Susan debuted her new series at a solo exhibition entitled Three Dimensions at Galerie Noack in Berlin, Germany, in the fall of 2021. Galerie Noack is located in one of the oldest bronze factories in the area and produced large-scale sculptures for artists such as Henry Moore and Bernar Venet. With its history, the space provided a well-matched setting for Susan’s latest works as they go beyond the edges of the canvas, protruding from the surface and evoking a sculptural sense.
Supporters far and wide traveled to celebrate this pivotal direction in Susan’s painting career. In his opening speech, Jurgen Grossman, Entrepreneur and Chairman of the Foundation for Art & Culture, Bonn, referenced Susan’s intentional choice to live in a place like Park City, surrounding herself with a tranquil abundance of inspiration. In describing how Susan’s work brings the outside indoors, Grossman states that the paintings have “greatly expanded my own awareness…to experience first-hand the inner connection between the artist and nature.”
In addition to her artwork, Susan pursues her passion for the planet and its people as a founder of the documentary film organization Impact Partners which has produced award-winning work that focuses on social justice and environmental issues. She sits on the advisory board of the National Museum of Women in the Arts and is also the co-founder of The Christian Center of Park City, which provides basic needs and a food pantry service to the local community.
“The thing that I have always admired about Susan Swartz,” says Aimee Odum, Susan Swartz Studios Gallery Manager,” is that she is not only a painter but an advocate and an activist. She inspires people to think about their relationship with nature, and she uses the sales of her work to support organizations that promote causes she believes in. The passion that fuels Susan is contagious.”
A Park City resident for more than three decades, Susan welcomes visitors to experience her work in her gallery on Main Street. Currently, many of her original pieces are on display, including Evolution of Nature 25, from her latest series. The painting was inspired by her experiences at her Berlin exhibition and is her largest piece to date, measuring 6 by 10 feet.
Susan’s work is featured in museums, U.S. embassies, and private and public collections around the world. Whether in personal collections or internationally renowned galleries, Susan’s art reminds us that we are all connected, and we are all responsible for the well-being of our planet.
Nature’s Bouquet 52 | 24” x 12” | Susan Swartz
Blooming 10 | 12” x 12” | Susan Swartz
Whisper of Spring | 72'“ x 48” | Private Collection | Susan Swartz
Boundless 6 | 24” x 72” | Susan Swartz
“SHE INSPIRES PEOPLE TO THINK ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH NATURE…THE PASSION THAT FUELS SUSAN IS CONTAGIOUS.”
—Aimee Odum, Manager, Susan Swartz Gallery