Bio
Susan Blake works in several media including photography, painting, collage and ceramics. Blake’s ongoing interest in geometric abstraction and sensuous form comes to the fore in her hand-painted ceramic work in which she uses the vessel form as a jumping off point for exploring color and pattern. Although she relishes that her vessel works call to mind a multiple of anthropological and art historical associations, she deliberately leaves their meaning open to interpretation.
In Chicago, Blake has exhibited at The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, The Hyde Park Art Center, Columbia College A+D Gallery among others. In Denver her work has been shown at RULE Gallery, Redline Contemporary Art Center, the Arvada Center, the Pattern Shop Studio and Hinterland Art Space among others.
Artist Statement: Painted Vessels
My work combines painting with ceramics. I am interested in the vessel as a surface upon which to expand my painting beyond two dimensions. My painted vessels unite sensuous form with the hypnotic rhythms of pattern and illusionistic elements of perceptual abstraction.
My ceramic work is about the tension between form and surface decoration. Whereas my patterns are systematic and precise, my hand-built forms are deliberately generic, more organic, a bit wonky and shy away from perfect symmetry. My vessels reside in a sweet spot between applied and fine art. Instead of glazing my pots, I paint them with acrylic, spray, marker and/or enamel in order to nudge my work out of the realm of “functional ceramics” and into the domain of sculpture.
I think of my ceramic works as both sculptures and paintings. Nonetheless, the idea of ‘vessel’—as a container or conveyance—remains important in my work. That is, I view my painted vessels as ‘personal artifacts’ that contain my desires as well as the sum of influences on my art, especially that of my studies in art history and geology. For me, they are vehicles for connecting to and r ecognizing past cultures without appropriating or judging them.
Experience
Taught art history survey courses, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL
Arts Writer, Chicago New Art Examiner and other publications. Wrote feature articles, exhibition reviews and art catalogs
Arts Research Editor, St. Martins Press. Worked on “Who’s Who in Art" and “Who’s Who in Design” reference book series
Independent Illustrator and Graphic Designer, Specialized in photo illustration. Clients included Lehman Brothers, Grubb & Ellis and Argonne National Laboratory
CV
Susan Blake
Denver, CO and SantaFe, NM
Education
School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL, Department of Painting and Drawing
Columbia College, Chicago, IL, School of Photography
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, MA, Art History, University Fellow, BA, Art History, Minor degree in Geology
Selected Exhibitions
2022 One Sheet, Arvada Center, Arvada CO
2021 Night Lights, Denver, CO (tower image projection, Collage Club, Month of Photography biennial)
2019 ANIMALS2, Alto Gallery, Denver, CO
2019 In the Fold, Rule Gallery, Denver, CO (3 person with Basil Kincaid and Renluka Maharaj)
2019 The Denver Collage Club, Alto Gallery, Denver, CO
2019 Art of the State 2019, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
2016 Pattern Makers, Pattern Shop Studio, Denver, CO
2016 Drawing Never Dies, RedLine Contemporary Art Center, Denver CO
2016 Annual Survey of Contemporary Art, Lincoln Center, Fort Collins, CO (Honorable Mention)
2016 ON EDGE: Select Local Contemporary Art, EDGE Gallery, Denver, CO
2016 Art of the State 2016, Arvada Center, Arvada, CO
2015 The Best of Art District Santa Fe, Habitat Gallery, Denver, CO
2015 Annual Juried Exhibition, Mai Wyn Fine Art, Denver, CO
2013 seen.unseen, Hinterland Art Space, Denver, CO (Juror's Choice Award)
2013 The Art of Photography, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
2013 UNSEEN, Pattern Shop Studio, Denver, CO
2013 The Small Masterpiece, RULE Gallery, Denver, CO
2013 THE BIG PICTURE , MoP, Month of Photography, Denver, CO
2012 Atmosphere, Evan Anderman Gallery, Denver, CO (with Evan Anderman)
2012 Guilty Pleasures, Spark Gallery, Denver, CO
2011 Food, Colorado Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
2010 Animalia, Colorado Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO
Additional exhibitions at The Renaissance Society at the University of Chicago, The Hyde Park Art Center, Columbia College A+D Gallery and Gallery 312 in Chicago among others.
Press
Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver's 8 most promising fall shows, The Denver Post, 9/12/2022
Michael Paglia, Review: Landmark MoP Shows at Michael Warren, Rule Galleries, 4/3/2019
Ray Mark Rinaldi, Denver’s art scene is gonna be big in 2019, The Denver Post, 3/17/2019
Susan Froyd, Month of Photography 2019: Not-to-Miss Shows, Westword 2/26/2019
Michael Paglia, Review: Arvada Triennial Shows off Art of the State, 2/6/2019
Ray Mark Rinaldi, “Art of the State” of-the-moment survey of Colorado’s creative Community, The Denver Post, 1/23/2019
Dahlia Singer, Pattern Shop Studio Celebrates 25 Years, 5280 magazine, 9/1/2016
Ray Mark Rinaldi, River North gallery celebrates 25 years with “Pattern Makers” show, The Denver Post, 8/25/2016
Ray Mark Rinaldi, Redline’s “Drawing Never Dies“ exhibit keeps an open mind, The Denver Post, 7/29/2016
Michael Paglia, Reading Between the Lines at RedLine's "Drawing Never Dies", Westword, 5/26/2016
Ray Mark Rinaldi, At Rule Gallery, a small but smart art exhibit, Denver Post, 12/21/2012
Selected Collections
Mark G. Falcone, Market Station, Denver, CO
Mark Sink, Denver CO
Jill Hadley Hooper, Denver, CO
Evan and Elizabeth Anderman, Denver, CO
Dr. Kristi Petersen, Denver, CO
Ruth Horwich, Chicago, IL