SUSAN FINSEN
Film, clay, glaze, paint, linoleum, graphite, crayon, oilstick, collage, gel, glue, string, wire, paper, marker, mylar, ink, pixels, and a few I've forgotten. As a painter and photographer – my current media – I'm a mark maker using many of these tools.
My painting process is a combination of intuitive drawing, conscious shaping and layering, and the search for my spontaneous 5-year old self.
Marks are made and covered up, and imagery is created, erased, and re-imagined. Color, line, shape, plane, and found or created collage materials, arrange themselves to express what I
see, remember, and invent.
I have no idea what the painting will be at the start. Each begins with crayon/paint marks, and then a conversation between my arm, eyes, feelings, thoughts, and the painting takes over.
As a photographer, my eye selects views, structures and angles. Once captured, I modify the image using editing software as drawing tools.
I play with the shapes and lines, and alter exposure, color, contrast, surface, light and other elements to find the mood, energy, and connection with the viewer I want.