Studio Visit with Susan Thompson

• 

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  
  

  The above photos are courtesy of Jacqueline McRath, friend of the artist and co-founder of The Theresa Show exhibited at the Harriet Tubman House in Boston.

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  

  

  

  
  

  

  
  

Part of putting on an exhibition that is inherently crucial is meeting the artist and her work. We were lucky to have the opportunity to visit Susan at her studio and become closely acquainted with many of her pieces that she has created over the years. As we all sat and observed, Susan discussed her background in both the arts and education, and passionately described the influences and inspirations behind her work:

For the first time in her career, Susan has been able to be a full time artist, recently retiring from teaching in the classroom. She has taught at a variety of locations, her resume including workshops, residencies, churches, Boston museums, and many community settings—some of these institutions being Vine Street Community Center in Roxbury, Museum of Fine Arts Boston and the Isabella Stuart Gardner. Currently, Susan is an artist at the African American Master Artist-in-Residence Program (AARMP), at Northeastern University.

Now a full time artist, Susan spends a lot of time in this studio, and it shows. The walls are decorated with her work, tools and material are organized on workbenches, and drawers are filled with even more work that has been made over the years. The environment has also helped fuel her work, and she talked with us about how just walking down the hallways and seeing the work of her contemporaries has influenced her.

This idea of community within the studio—the sharing of ideas, artistic processes, and inspirations—connect heavily with moments in our conversation with Susan in regards to collaborations role in her work and her introduction to quilting.

When we were observing the work on the wall we noticed that while most of the works on the wall feature Susan’s signature, there are some pieces that include an additional name. A humble human and artist, Susan always credits those who assist her with the completion of a piece and she discussed with us the exchange of ideas and methods of creating.

Susan also discussed her familial connection to quilting. As a young girl her grandmother would always be sewing and working on her individual quilting projects, taking accumulated fabric she had collected and dyed on her own.

As we looked at the work and began to consider what the exhibition would look like, starting to organize in our minds Susan’s work into themes and material.

Susan’s work deals with ideas of family, community, spirituality, and culture. Very interested in traveling, she discussed how Asian, European, Native American, and African art have influenced her work through content, symbolism, and figures. We also discussed the political, social, and historical heaviness present in her work, especially when viewing the pieces that contain imagery of the beads of African Slave Trade—beads used to purchase slaves. An important part of this class is observing and critiquing how galleries and other institutions present work that addresses the disparities in history and politics. As curators and handlers of the work, we must make sure to not silence these conversations but allow the opportunity for the work to educate and prompt discussion and introspection within the viewer.

Working with themes that often weave together, Susan also has the incredible talent to work in—and with—a variety of media and techniques. She has worked with: printmaking, encaustic paint, dipped in wax, rust quilting, dye fabric, mark-making with thread and more. Her aesthetic is very much focused the tactile and mixed media.  

While talking to her about her work it is apparent how process driven her practice is. She discussed how she often has has periods of doing one particular thing and then returning to a previous technique. She also often goes back into old pieces, reworking the material until she is satisfied. She has a wide variety of talented work.

Just from observing what she has in the studio (she has more at her house!) there is more than enough content and work to pull from for the exhibition.