Susan Lenz
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Bio: Susan Lenz is a professional studio artist who uses needle and thread to express herself. Lenz works to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in discarded things, seeking a partnership with her materials and their purposes, values, and familiar associations. Her work has been widely exhibited in international and national juried exhibitions and in solo shows all over the country. She has been awarded fully funded fellowships to art residencies including The Anderson Center, PLAYA, Hot Springs National Park, and the Studios of Key West. The artist has conducted workshops at Arrowmont School for Arts and Crafts, St. Louis Craft Alliance, Southeastern Quilt and Fiber Art Museum in Georgia, Wisconsin Museum of Quilts and Fiber Art, and Society of Contemporary Crafts. Lenz’s installations have been shown with Through Our Hands, an international fiber arts organization based in Great Britain and as the solo proposal winner at the Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, in Mesa AZ. The Grovewood Gallery in Asheville NC is among the galleries representing the artist’s work.
Statement: I am a visual artist who uses found objects to express myself, working in partnership with my materials and their purposes, values, and familiar associations. I typically use a needle and thread to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in these discarded things. Meticulous hand embroidery and self-guided, free-motion stitching is my approach to themes of memory, universal mortality, and personal legacy. Because time is short and days are numbered, I work with the hope that one little piece of my art might be kept through coming generations--cherished, admired, remembered, regarded for its quality, marking my existence on this planet. This is a race to the final day. I am drawn to textiles for their tactile qualities and often make work that is meant to touch and be touched.
Statement: I am a visual artist who uses found objects to express myself, working in partnership with my materials and their purposes, values, and familiar associations. I typically use a needle and thread to articulate the accumulated memory inherent in these discarded things. Meticulous hand embroidery and self-guided, free-motion stitching is my approach to themes of memory, universal mortality, and personal legacy. Because time is short and days are numbered, I work with the hope that one little piece of my art might be kept through coming generations--cherished, admired, remembered, regarded for its quality, marking my existence on this planet. This is a race to the final day. I am drawn to textiles for their tactile qualities and often make work that is meant to touch and be touched.