Suzanne Horwitz

My first experience with sculpture was during a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York as a child. Picasso was the headline exhibition, and I fell in love! I remember skipping lunch as I was totally mesmerized by the artwork, and using that lunch money to buy the exhibition catalog so I could remember the images. That catalog is in my studio today. My artwork often employs viewer-object orientation, historic meaning, and implied use of materials to create socio-cultural commentary. Nature’s forms together with the human body and its parts, are the basis of my visual expression.

As an artist, I have completed installations, constructions, figurative work, commissions and public art. I have been making sculpture that deals with complex themes in an accessible way, using materials that evoke the narrative. I draw on many sources, including art history, human history, current events, and literature. My mediums are stone, steel, cast metals and paper, ceramic, and plaster. Repose is influenced by the chaotic, difficult, and polarizing times we are experiencing now. This figure is emerging from the stone, yet is still sheltering within. In Repose, I chose an impenetrable material, alabaster. It has been many years since I have carved stone. It seemed appropriate to return to carving now. The body, its pose and the stone are my vehicles of expression. Plus, I left Repose unmounted and in this unfinished status to refer the unknown outcome of our current state of affairs.

What role does the artist play in society?

Artists play many roles in society. Historically, the artist was hired to document or pay homage to the rich and famous, and to beauty. An artist’s work can reflect the interests of the artist, the geographic location, and the society and culture that surround them. Art can be purely luxurious; the beauty of the natural world, and it can reflect the bold challenges society faces. 

What art/ artist/ style are you most interested in?

My first experience with sculpture was during a visit to the Museum of Modern Art in New York as a small child with a scouting group. Picasso was the headline exhibition and I fell in love with sculpture. I stood fascinated in front of the found object sculptures and cubist works.  I remember skipping lunch and using that money to buy the exhibition catalog so I could remember the images. That catalog is in my studio today. 

I have been making sculpture that deals with socially complex themes in an accessible way using materials that evoke the narrative. I draw on many sources, including art history, human history, current events and literature. As an artist, I have completed installations, constructions, figurative work, commissions and public art too.

Nature’s forms together with the human body and its parts, are the basis of my visual expression. My mediums are cast metals (aluminum, bronze, copper), stone, paper, ceramics, cement, and plaster. Creating sculpture requires a certain complex problem solving skills and a collaborative spirit.

Do you have an idealized dream project?

In the future, I dream of creating sculptures that have a viewer’s participation element to it, giving added meaning to the work.  I have created work that is installed on the floor to imply inferiority in orientation to the viewer; work that viewers can recline in evoking ideas to sleep with, and work to hold their wishes and prayers for protection.

We are living in an extremely difficult and fragmented society at this time. One idea I have is to create an artwork that encourages people to actually see each other instead of being threatened by the “other”. We are more alike than different, but at the same time, we need to learn from and celebrate those differences.

How does your eye move through the sculpture? Did you make any intentional choices to make that happen?

I think I learn from every piece I make.

In Repose, I had to relearn how to carve stone. It was like becoming a beginner again. I had this piece of alabaster in my studio and had not thought about it for years. But, during this pandemic and toxic political environment, I needed some way to release my anxiety. 

I carved this piece to reflect how I was feeling at the time, anxious, afraid and needing to rest my thoughts. I carved the arms overlapping with one hand fairly static and the other tilted downward to lead the viewer’s eye to move around the work. I left it in a rough state because that is where we were at the time.

If sculpture could talk, what would it say?

Listening to viewers’ reactions to my artwork is how the piece talks.

The artist creates work with their own intention, but what is so enlightening, is how viewers react. People tend to overlay work with their own sensibilities, opinions, and prejudices. I think all art needs the viewer to talk. 

Can you explain materials you use and why you use them?

The materials that I select for an artwork are chosen because they evoke or are related to the narrative of the work. I draw on many sources, including art history, human history, current events and literature. 

For example, I chose this piece of alabaster for Repose for this exhibit, because the whole world felt stuck in an alternate fact and un-yielding atmosphere with no chance of cooperation or compromise. Stone seemed like the perfect choice. It was not a recycled material in the strict sense, but it was something I had moved from studio to studio and fit my goal. I needed a rest from all the talking heads on TV with their unrelenting “breaking news”. 

In another work, Sentry, I used stainless steel. Steel was chosen because of the strength it implies. I wanted a material that suggested a shield for safety yet seemed weapon like in form. Sentry was a guardian of viewer’s wishes for protection.