Susan Sales

SUSAN SALES
Artist's Statement, 2009

Painting is both a noun and a verb. My part, my "role" in painting is about the verb. The viewer's role is about the noun. I am all about the process. My desire is to paint. And out of that activity make something to see that has direct emotional appeal "much like music" particularly instrumental music. Something one reacts and responds to "something that moves the viewer for reasons that are virtually impossible to define.

Everything and everyone I've ever been exposed to plays into the work. How could it not? It's an emotional response to the content of my life. It's a personal and private activity for me to create these paintings and I expect what they see in them to be a personal and private thing for each member of my audience. For me painting is a lifestyle. I don't think in terms of my "job" or "hours to keep" "I just do it without much consideration for what day of the week or what time it is. Emerson said: "Art is a jealous mistress." Indeed, art is a jealous lover. The creative process is demanding and possessive. And like love, there is a certain "privacy" in its process.

Inspiration is a moody companion. In the world of creative endeavor how does one do something over and over without being repetitive? Often referred to as The Muse, inspiration is affected by everything around it: news and weather, family and friends, love and passion, money and sex. The Muse must be teased and satisfied, exercised and allowed to rest, imprisoned and set free, refined and reborn. What inspires me has morphed and shifted many times over the nearly two decades I've been making art. The consistent factor is that I love the creative process. To borrow from Eva Hesse, I get there through "total risk, freedom and discipline." To quote Frank Stella, "I just paint."

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