Suzy Scarborough

Art (intentionally or not) conveys the artist’s state of consciousness. According to hegel “it is the function of art to present ultimate reality to our immediate perception in sensuous shape.” Lately, while creating my art, I try to follow the zen principle of “doing by not doing.” I meditate before working and wait for the impulse to begin doing something. My interests in the following concepts often appear in my art: 1) the concept of time; 2) the changing nature of “reality” throughout history; 3) the potential for human transformation; 4) woman as subject rather than object in art; 5) human connections to the physical environment. I like to blend complexity with simplicity. I also like to contrast natural organic forms and lines with the graphs, lines, and symbols of human concepts. The fruits are studies in “volume;” the birds studies in texture. The figures tend to be visual metaphors for my own “consciousness struggles” (for lack of a better phrase). The abstracts are my attempts to wander into the ineffable. They are meditative studies of the stillness of the interior life. I’m trying to express pure experience/perception before that perception is interpreted into a concept.Techniques and Processes I work on wood panels. Sometimes I apply an ink transfer (usually consisting of a grid work of symbols, diagrams, texts, numbers) to the wood surface. Sometimes I apply a gold leaf or collaged background. Over this background I paint with acrylic, sometimes using a crackle paste medium to create heavy texture. The high gloss surfaces are epoxy resin; the matte ones are polymer varnishes.Materials Acrylic, Charcoal, Pastel, India Ink, Watercolor Pencils, Crackle Paste, Epoxy Resin, and Polymer Varnish