Flora, Fauna & Entrails

I'm excited to announce the inaugural exhibit of my Fiber Forms collection and work here in our new home state of Louisiana. The family and I will be attending the opening this weekend so if you're in the New Orleans area please stop by, take a gander at all the fiber art and say hello!

Fabric and thread are inextricably bound to our everyday lives. Flora, Fauna, and Entrails brings together artists using fibers in their practice to explore the beauty and fragility of the nature around them. Flora, Fauna, and Entrails is Antenna’s fourth exhibition exploring the work of artists that expand on the potential of fiber in contemporary art practices while still being steeped in craft traditions.

 Antenna presents:
Flora, Fauna, and Entrails
 3718 St. Claude St, New Orleans
On view: April 8 – May 7, 2017
Opening Reception: Saturday April 8, 6-10pm
Daily hours: Tuesday through Sunday 12-5 

Featuring artists: Linda Beach, Raina Benoit, Raluca Iancu, Gina Phillips, and Suzanna Scott.

lee mis laVios

A grouping of twenty Coin Cunts is in Mexico City for their international debut in the exhibition lee mis laVios. This clever show title is a play on words meaning 'read my lips' with the capital letter 'V' symbolizing the vulva/vagina.

The exhibition, lee mis laVios, chooses to undress the vagina from its prejudices, fetishes and desires, aiming for the acceptance of its sexual naturalization.

Throughout traditional art history the vagina has been systematically excluded, its representations either fade under a translucent veil or are replaced by a sexless pubis. This absence of detail has transformed it into an obscene and indiscreet symbol.

The gesture of symbolizing the vagina becomes an excuse to avoid it. Masculine gaze has constructed a specific imagery around it, based on simultaneous desire-censorship and summing it up through fertility symbols, objects of desire or immoral impurities. Its materialization is either morbid or symbolic. Indeed, vaginas have lost their right to (re)present themselves.

Lee mis laVios unveils the vagina from its prejudices in order to confront it as it is. By analyzing its allegorical connections we deconstruct the structure that surrounds it.

Read my lips: a vagina is more than anything, a vagina. It does not require any validation by dignifying it through symbols. The vagina exists as it is, dignified and worthy of its being. Now it's time to make this evident. 

lee mis laVios

31 de Marzo - 14 de Abril

Ex Iglesia de Corpus Christi

Mexico City, Mexico

Participating artists include Jamie Martinez, Maisie Cousins, Suzanna Scott, Rosa Borras, Sara Lorusso and Los Ninxs.

Duality of Feminine

My grouping of red (and a few purple) Coin Cunts will be on view during the month of March at Gallery 66 NY in Cold Spring, New York. The exhibition, Duality of Feminine and Feminist, was juried by artist/curator Karen Gutfreund. These are some of the questions the artists were asked to ponder:

Endless news cycles emphasize the fragmentary nature of our present society and a divided nations’ opposition to a single logic or subject. With this in mind, how do women balance the duality of feminine and feminist? Should we be concerned with the manner in which a woman is portrayed as strong and/or feminine? In recent cultural movements, the ramifications of mixed gender attributes seemed to be growing in popularity yet with the recent elections and threats to women’s rights in particular, are we going backwards. This ability to carry the strengths of both genders is empowering but are we now dealing with a backlash? Is the current political atmosphere an attempt to return to the stereotypical view of women as submissive and passive?

Artworks in the Duality of Feminine and Feminist exhibit are varied with works on paper, glass, collage, porcelain, photography, painting, fabric, assemblage, appropriated imagery and mixed media, with messages just as varied.  The artists participating in this exhibit are from across the nation and include works by Torey Akers, Audrey Bernstein, Sarah Eagen, Sally Edelstein, Leslie Fandrich, Morgan Ford Willingham, Colleen Gahrmann, Lucy Julia Hale, Amy Hughes, Marie-Laure Ilie, Blond Jenny, Joan Lesikin, Lisa Levart, Sally Ann McKinsey Sisk, Jillian Nalty, Landon Newton, Antonella Piemontese, Jessica Putnam-Phillips, Suzanna Scott, Samantha Senack, Rosalind Shaffer, Allegra Shunk, Susan Singer, Dafna Steinberg, Gail Stouffer, Terrill Warrenburg, Jennifer Weigel, Galelyn Williams and Meghan Willis.

 Duality of Feminine and Feminist
Gallery 66 NY / Cold Spring, NY
March 3rd – April 2nd
Opening reception, March 3rd 6-9pm

Material as Medium

I'm pleased to have two fiber works included in Material as Medium at the Target Gallery in Alexandria, Virginia. My tactile collection of Bound Scissors and recent wall sculpture, Lifeline will be on display along with the work of fifteen other fiber artists. The exhibition explores the future of contemporary fiber and textile art using traditional materials in a new context, or unconventional materials in a more traditional form. The juror for this exhibition is Aaron McIntosh.

Material as Medium

Torpedo Factory / Target Gallery

December 3, 2016 - January 15, 2017

Reception: Thursday, December 8th, 6 – 8pm / Juror Talk at 7pm

Participating fiber artists:

Meg Arsenovic, Richmond, VA

Emma Balder, Denver, CO

Diana Baumbach, Laramie, WY

Arisa Brown, Everett, WA

Danielle Burke, Black Mountain, NC

Brooks Dierdorff, Orlando, FL

Julia Gartrell, Durham, NC

Lindsay Hall, Arlington, VA

Krista Heinitz, Eugene, OR

Hannah Hiaasen, Brooklyn, NY

Kathleen Kennedy, Mechanicsville, VA

Tiffany Lange, Menomonie, WI

Matthew Paulson, Rockaway Beach, NY

Suzanna Scott, Ruston, LA

Meaghan Westfall, Rock Hill, SC

Katie Westmoreland, Brooklyn, NY

New Print

In light of recent political events here in the United States my series of 'Coin Cunts' has continued to gain interest and raise awareness of women's issues on many different fronts. I am continuing to seek out used kisslock coin purses with colorful and/or interesting interiors to grow the collection. As of its last installation this past summer it numbered over 100 pieces! 

This image is now available as a limited edition, poster-sized pigment print in my webshop. Its proceeds will be used to fund the growth of this project and its exhibition. You can purchase the new print here.

A Lifeline

A year and a half ago, soon after I turned 40, I gifted myself a sabbatical to explore a new direction in my work. One of the first projects I tackled was to fabricate a sculpture out of an antique quilt top that I'd been holding onto for years with this purpose in mind. The slow evolution of this unfinished quilt has been a learning process for me with many stops and starts.

First, I created a simple drop pattern and proceeded to cut up the entire quilt. The drops were stitched together and stuffed inside-out so the hand-pieced, textured surface would be visible. Ironically the quilt lent me 42 drops--the age I will be turning in a few months.

In order to unify the forms and emphasize their texture without the distraction of a country craft palette each one was painted with black gesso. The gesso transformed the drops from a soft pillow form into a calcified cocoon. After painting, I sanded and stitched the pods to re-emphasize the lines and textures of the original quilted surface. The final surface was fused with a layer of wax lending a skin-like smoothness to these seemingly rough forms.

Through each step this work has pushed and pulled me along. The process was much more involved than I could have predicted at the outset. Nevertheless, I'm glad I keep pulling it back out to puzzle out each step of its transformation. It is a quilt no longer. The 42 drops have been bound tightly to a spine of sorts. I arranged them onto an old lead rope using the measurements of my own torso. For whatever this is, I call it a Lifeline.

Reform: Subversive Fashion

Last month, before our move, I finished stitching over 100 'Coin Cunts' and shipped them off to Albuquerque, NM. They will be included, along with work by four other artists, in an exciting counter-culture fashion exhibition opening Friday at Central Features Contemporary Art. This will be the largest installation of the 'Coin Cunts' thus far. 

Missouri-based artist Suzanna Scott challenges visual and societal perceptions with Coin Cunts, a collection of coin purses. By turning each purse inside out to reveal and reform the different interior linings, Scott teases the imagination and sparks conversation about the ties amongst sexuality, gender, money, and fashion. 

 Nancy Zastudil, Central Features Contemporary Art

A video posted by Suzanna Scott (@suzanna_scott) on Aug 23, 2016 at 8:24am PDT

Contemporary fashion is in question and on display this Fall season at Central Features Contemporary Art. Cross programming and promotion is presented in conjunction with the exhibition ReFashion at form & concept in Santa Fe, NM. ReForm: Subversive Fashion is an exhibition of select garments, accessories, and other adornments that thwart conventional expectations. The exhibition features JUMPSUIT by The Rational Dress Society, an installation by Suzanna Scott, an interactive dress by Nina Silfverberg, collages by Kirsten Stolle, and new textile work by Sarah Wagner. 

Reform: Subversive Fashion

August 26 - September 30

Central Features Contemporary Art

514 Central Ave SW #2, Albuquerque, NM

Opening Reception on Aug 26th, 6-8pm

Fiber Options

Cheese Box of Vulvas by Susan Hensel and Plexus by Suzanna Scott

I'm pleased to share that one of my fiber pieces, Plexus, is included in the exhibition Fiber Options: Material Explorations at the Maryland Federation of the Arts Circle Gallery. The show is comprised of seventy-two works using fiber in varied range of material and application. It is a wonderful collection of contemporary fiber works.

Fiber Options: Material Explorations

MFA Circle Gallery

Annapolis, Maryland

July 14 - August 6

Opening Reception: July 24th, 3-5 pm

 

Getting To Quiet by Laurie LeBreton

From hand-knit pieces felted into sculptural monuments to video monitors shrouded in hooded sweatshirts, the options in fiber are limitless. Combining an array of materials, both traditional and unexpected, with historic to digital techniques, the artists of Fiber Options: Material Exploration exhibit artistry, innovation, and emotion. Precisely pieced quilts, meticulously knotted vessels, and delicately dyed silks are a few examples of the supreme skill and dexterity employed over countless hours by these artists. Oftentimes, several skills appear in a singular piece: stitched still lifes on hand-dyed cotton or fabric and thread encased in encaustic, all demonstrate supreme artistry.

Innovation commingles with tradition in a quilt deliberately severed into quadrants or sweetly stitched flowers paired with a expertly embroidered dead cockroach. Several artists reinvent conventional notions of fiber art by including unexpected materials. Typewriter ribbon and VHS cassette tape replace wool and linen in woven constructions. Fiber is no longer precious with roofing nails driven into silk and sticks set afire dangerously near hand-painted ropes. Technological advances provide artists with the ability to print on fabrics and digitize embroidery, opening up new options in the world of fiber.

Beyond the tangible, emotion and character can be observed in the stab of the needle, throw of the weaving shuttle, submersion of fabric into dye, and sometimes, sorrow and devastation literally spill forth onto the floor. Steadfast resolve surfaces in a hyper-realistic embroidered black eye while vulnerability lingers in a threadbare cloth. Clothing carries deep-rooted symbolism—a hooded sweatshirt, a bridal veil, a Hijab—and immediately conjure a range of emotions and viewpoints.

Fiber speaks to us in so many ways. It can be intricately detailed or all encompassing, traditionally constructed or surprisingly innovative, intimately displayed or globally outspoken. The options in fiber are endless.

Susanna Fields-Kuehl, juror

Big Flower by Lisa Marie Barber

Coin Cunt Print

The 'Coin Cunt' project began innocently last summer when I was playing around with an old coin purse. I flipped it inside out, and saw a vaginal form emerge from my playful pinching and tucking. Using a needle and thread I stitched it into place. As I thought about it, I found so much association between the little pocket-like forms and the inferred suggestions that these new objects brought to mind.

I began sharing the 'Coin Cunts' on social media and am amazed at the feedback it has provided. With a simple alteration these ubiquitous objects became evocative and their appeal provocative when I dubbed them 'Coin Cunts'. Aside from the chuckles, I've found that others can see in this project our assumed cultural associations of money and women, prostitution, female genital mutilation, suppression of women, gender equality, body image ideals, equal pay and the list continues to grow.

Ever since the 'Coin Cunt' images began making their rounds on social media I've had to turn down numerous purchase requests. My goal with this project is to grow the collection until I have a large installation of 100 or more. In order finance the rest of this project and give you an opportunity to enjoy this image on a daily basis I'm offering a limited edition of 25 pigment prints on my website.

A video posted by Suzanna Scott (@suzanna_scott) on May 24, 2016 at 7:55am PDT