Page 16 - The Enso Circle Continuing Residents, Exhibition Catalog, Spring 2023
P. 16
ARTIST STATEMENT
Sue Conner
100 Self Portraits: A Conversation with Color
As the new year began, I found myself in a place where I felt the need and desire
to go beyond that place of creative comfort. Creating 100 self-portraits became
the self-imposed assignment in which I pushed to work more spontaneously and
intuitively. I began by generating a list of 100 words about myself that would
inspire each piece. I also experimented with a range of medium and color that
went beyond encaustic and my usual neutral pallet.
This approach coincided perfectly with the 2023 Spring Enso term where we
were tasked to expand how we viewed the wildflower. I discovered wildflowers
in the most unusual places where these resilient, diverse plants represent
extraordinary beauty in the depth of their detail and color. Wildflowers also
brought to mind “bursts of color”, which became the perfect way to merge my
assignment with my Enso goals, where the intent was to use color to
communicate the mood and emotion within my self-portraits. The images on the
opposite page represent a sampling of the over 100 self-portraits completed.
15
