Suzanne L. Mitchell

Louisville, Kentucky

Café Carga;
mixed media,
69" x 50" x 12",2002

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

I am at my most happy when I am collecting raw materials for my assemblages, on the beach, in the woods. Nature is a powerful draw for me, and I go to great lengths at times to get awkward materials into my studio. When I construct a figure, or an abstract garment, it is logical and a little bit subversive to use my collection of almost worthless, but evocative, natural stuff. It is my way of drawing attention to all the little bits of beauty that we ignore; modern life does not lend itself to observation or respect for the natural world. So if I can manage to create a convincing, even voluptuous, character out of unlikely materials, such as seaweed or local tree pods, my hope is that someone else will see the world a little bit differently.

My interest in textiles and the sculpture of clothing is long-standing. I did sewing, rather than rendering, as an adolescent. I have made figurative wall reliefs out of a variety of materials, even photographs, some of which have been used to construct Cafe Carga. Gender roles and gender associations with certain materials are of interest to me. I aspire to make objects with surfaces so tactile that the viewer is either seduced or repelled, as long as the reaction is strong.

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