Absent Presence
Susan Murrell
October 5–28, 2018
Opening Reception
Saturday, October 6, 20186:00–9:00pm
Susan Murrell’s creative practice has recently focused on the universal and personal process of experiencing presence through absence— a struggle to know a thing from the hole it has left behind after it is gone. She is interested in finding fullness in the void, recognizing meaning or purpose in the space between. Considering the moral/cultural implications of negative and positive space(s) she aims to confuse the two. It is perhaps a small shift in perspective, but has become an important inversion for her.
Murrell’s work explores how our concept of landscape has changed through technology. The horizon traditionally defined our relationship to the world; now with our expanding perspective, we feel a kinship with microscopic images and aerial views of planets. Vestiges of built environments, architecture, or even graphic design and remnants of popular culture have been added to our visual language and create for us a sense of place. In this context, she consider herself a landscape painter.
Susan Murrell has been awarded a Career Opportunity Grants from both the Oregon Arts Commission and the Ford Family Foundation. This work was also made possible by the Caldera’s Golden Spot Award Residency funded by the Ford Family Foundation.
Click here to see more of Susan’s work
or visit her website at www.susanstudio.com
© Carnation Contemporary
Photo credit: John Whitten
Susan Murrell has been awarded a Career Opportunity Grants from both the Oregon Arts Commission and the Ford Family Foundation.
This work was also made possible by the Caldera’s Golden Spot Award Residency funded by the Ford Family Foundation.
This work was also made possible by the Caldera’s Golden Spot Award Residency funded by the Ford Family Foundation.
