Excavations
by Susanne McDougall Carmack
August, 23 - December 18, 2004

Writes the artist:

We are vast storehouses of sensory information. It is this information that I strive to present in a work of art.

Consciously, a beginning may present itself as a color, a feeling, a word or phrase. Once the painting process is underway, my actions become less conscious and more intuitively physical.

I respond to the surface of the paintings by layering, scratching, smoothing over, incising, covering or uncovering. This is a process that I think of as an ongoing excavation, a mining of a subterranean gallery.

Texture is of primary importance. The surface is comprised of a build-up layers that recall fossils or old walls that have been affected by weather and years.

The writing is made spontaneously and automatically, sometimes recalling a fleeting sensation.

Most often the writing is meant to be indecipherable: that is because I am interested in the rhythm and look of writing as a physical trace, not its content.

Making marks in this way reflects the way we ruminate. Thoughts come and go, repeating themselves as we dwell on an idea, a word, or a song. Some thoughts remain strong and insistent, while others fade away.

Culling form in this manner is often a cycle of searching, discovering, and letting go; a mysterious uncovering that is a continual surprise.

Susanne McDougall Carmack

2004