Susan

Parrish

In my new body of work, I express my growing concern and awareness of the treatment of the people of our planet, all colors, all races and all ages. My work In clay was always inspired by the Earth. But now I also am interested in expanding from just my relationship to the Earth to that of the people of the Earth. These newest piece express my concern for the Earth by using fabric and fibers. Most people don't know that only 85% of clothes in the US are actually recycled or reused. I continue to work for the life of our Earth.

Susan Farrar Parrish has been a working artist and craftsman in the Raleigh, NC area since the early 1980s. After graduating from Auburn University with a BFA in Design and Painting, she began learning the art and craft of working with clay. Working in a home studio, she advanced her skills in clay and working for many years making and selling functional pottery. IN 2000, she moved her studio to Artspace in downtown Raleigh and left behind her home studio and her work of the prior 20 years. She then focused on one-of-a-kind handbuilt ceramic art pieces. This evolution was exciting and breathed new life into her career of working in clay. In 2009, her art/craft work reached another inflection point. This time it was the culmination of several factors, her mother’s failing health, her own health issues and the heath of the planet. This concern for these difficult topics didn’t immediately come to fruition in her work, they weighed her down. Soon enough, as she began to work through this with her art, everything changed. The result being her most exciting body of work, work that addresses these life events, but more importantly her concerns for the Earth and the people thereof. This is the point where found objects find their place in her work, first in conjunction with handbuilt ceramics, then with welding, then concrete and other metal, along with other mixed media. Process and product was the basis of my wheel thrown pottery for a long time. After many years I was left burned out and needing to express myself. After years of dwelling on this idea of allowing my work to change and go where it must, I moved my studio. This move was to join an Artist’s Studio Building in downtown Raleigh. At that time I began to focus on each piece as a singular work of art, while still working in clay. Another big change was from wheel throwing to handbuilt ceramics which I completed in a painterly fashion. After 10 years of this work, wanderlust came again, along with family and personal issues. At this time, I started to join found objects with my ceramic sculptural work. This was a very exciting time in my work as I began to express these person issues but also express my growing concerns for broader issues, the Earth, sea and the people that are a part of this planet. This exciting work continues to morph and change over time, allowing, not only for my skills to progress but for me to continue growing as an artist. I've begun to use up-cycled fibers and fabrics in my work to continue and expand my concern for the health of our Earth. ——————————————————————————

Fiber Art, Mixed Media

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