Artist Statement

Aspects of loss and reinvention, erosion and renewal mark my work and are reflected in the materials and processes I use.  Working with inherited and fragile cloth, I listen and acknowledge our fragility, our vulnerability, and our certain impermanence.

I break open decaying quilt fragments and contemplate what lies inside: what was once concealed is now revealed.  I piece together these fragments and listen for old and new stories.

The work of an unknown artist-quilter becomes a new narrative about rips and tears in the fabric of our lives, about mending our wounds, and imagining our next step.  As I print from and work with these fragile and disintegrating quilt fragments, questions of what remains and how we repair the damage begin to surface.  I am often surprised by the imagery that emerges.

I had not anticipated creating prints from a quilt pattern named “Evening Star” would evoke a sense of ravaged fields, rising tides, and falling stars; a sense of our land in flux.

In 2020, during “lockdown”, as I folded and printed with my grandmother's table linens, I thought of the shared meals with family and friends she had and that I was missing so much.  As I looked at the emerging prints, I sensed a veil, a ghost curtain, hanging before me, separating me from the ones I loved.  Did I feel an overwhelming sadness or a gentle touch, a whisper of comfort and hope?  On the other hand, the ink on the napkins felt shattered and sharp, piercing our hearts.  But then I began to see sturdy forms, new building blocks.  The supple strength of these 100-year-old linens persists.

Working with materials created and shaped by previous generations invokes memories and pulls a thread from the past through the present and into the future.

Biography  

Susan Denniston is a printmaker, painter, and mixed media artist working in the Boston area. 

Aspects of loss and reinvention, erosion and renewal mark her work and are reflected in her materials and process.  Whether working with inherited and fragile cloth or powerful images of a seawall at the mercy of a rising tide, her work holds fragments of persistence and hope woven with glimpses of her personal story. 

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA, she graduated from Bates College and worked in the hi-tech medical software field for 20 years. In 2000 she left to embrace her passion for art, studying at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston as well as at other schools and residencies.

Her work is seen regionally and nationally and more recently has been included in exhibits in Krakow, Havana, Venice, Finland, Norway, and Portugal.  She has served as president of the Monotype Guild of New England, a national print organization, and currently serves as treasurer and board member of the Boston Printmakers, a North American print organization.

susandenniston.com