The Dot Dilemma: the importance of incessant internal chatter that matters

A series of dot paintings that were initially created beginning in 2021 in response to the pandemic. Back then, we often stood on dots as indicated by shopkeepers to keep our bodies six feet apart from one another. I am interested in dots as a metaphor. Dots and circles are playful, like a child's toy ball. However, standing on them in grim circumstances changes their meaning.

We are and were living in troubled times. A circle can remind us of our universal truths and commonalities—we were all joined in the pain of the pandemic, with sickness and death always looming. We all live on a globe called Earth. In deciding to paint dots in a playful manner, I was no longer interested in depicting pain and displacement but instead hope. May this work always bring you a sense of calm and joy, but also remembrance of that which we all endured together.

The Dot Dilemma: incessant internal chatter that matters is my newest series, begun in 2021.

The Dot Dilemma series invented itself while I was sleeping and awake—these paintings insisted on being painted beginning early in 2021. My body asked for me to make circles and to look through the world via a small circular openings. I actually walked around for months with a circle cut out of a piece of painted cardboard. I had several of these, in different colors. My little peek holes into the world.

In my body I realized that through COVID-19 we stand on dots and we operate as if we had bubbles surrounding us in public. We move around one another as if to say, "don't come near me, watch out" and at the same time we are expressing the idea of "I respect your space, your body, and your health." I am interested in this push pull of human existence.

I am interested in why I chat with myself about these space bubbles when I go outside of my home. Sometimes I feel safe. Sometimes I feel anxious. Sometimes I feel angry. I paint from my experiences.

I also think of the circle as metaphor—there are no edges, no endings and no beginnings, we are all one. We are all in this pandemic together. And even with the seriousness of life in a pandemic I see that our existence is not all horrible and that dots represent playful moments in life. We are living in troubled times and dots can remind us of our universal truths and commonalities. Dots are the beginning of something new.

My work is idealistic, spontaneous and direct. I capture the fascination and gratitude I find in everyday life. I address a personal incessant internal chatter that matters, but is rarely heard. My art calls upon the viewer’s understanding of common daily repetitive work that goes unnoticed and often unpaid.

The strength of my images lies in my art’s elegance and confidence with a touch of whimsy.

I value curiosity and personal responsibility above all else. I believe if we each take the time to respect all human interaction, even of and with those we don't like or agree with; and if we all kept our promises to ourselves and others the world might start to reach the idealistic version that I see while I am making work.

My autobiographical writing generously shares thoughts on living a curiously contemplative and creative life. The deep work I have done to understand myself and my creative journey has led me to the art I make.

Suzanne’s work can be found online a via her website and Instagram.

Suzanne holds a BFA in Design from Carnegie Mellon University, a Master of Science in Communication from University of Portland and a MFA in Studio Art from Claremont Graduate University.

In this new series I combine faces or characters, household objects that are seen or implied, and flat areas of color juxtaposed with repeat painted patterns over collage. The deliberate creation of detailed patterns represents repetitive labor that goes under-appreciated and often unpaid and harks to the handy work of women. The collage grids that create the base surface for the art represent social norms and on each painting the grid is broken in areas suggesting room for new ideas and social structures. My initial inspiration for this body of work came from the insides of security envelopes—a product that is designed as protection for the contents within and actuality obliterates meaning and message, saying nothing (until ripped open).

I find discord and discomfort in my morning ritual. I read articles online from the New York Times and of various writers I follow on Substack. Absorbing electronically served up data. My habitual practice of information overindulgence serves as an unsettling force of inspiration for my creative endeavors.
As a method for inviting room to think and recalibrate while working, I created a forced container for my work. Stitch & So: sewing everyday worry into joy, is made with the use of handcrafted watercolor paint and paper, needle and Sashiko thread. Initially met with challenges and setbacks, because paper is nowhere near as forgiving as fabric. I persisted nonetheless.
First I paint. Then, I punch holes. Finally, I stitch. The fluid nature of watercolor meets the fixed force of thread. Each stitch serves as a testament to intentionality as the needle makes a sound popping through the paper. Forcing watercolor and thread to live in harmony allows for a relationship between fluidity and structure, and a blend of spontaneity and precision. Using a needle and thread stemmed from my desire to explore the actual physicality of sewing stitches vs. drawing stitches. The tactile quality of cotton rag paper and cotton thread is extraordinarily soothing in a way I could not have imagined when I began the work.
Stitch & So has become a physical manifestation of the complexities of the everyday struggle humanity faces, and also of my personal weaving of too-muchness into bite sized beauty. Creating daily is as necessary as daily digital reading is terrifying. Each stitched piece offers hope.