Susan Bauer
DRAPED
February 11 - March 11, 2021
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 18, 5:00 - 7:00 PM
The clothes that protect us, that make us laugh, that serve as a uniform, that help us assert our identity or aspirations, that we wear to remember someone - in all of these are encoded the stories of our lives. We all have a memoir in miniature living in a garment we’ve worn.
Emily Spivack - Worn Stories
Drawing and painting clothing has been part of my oeuvre for several years. I have chosen pieces of clothing that have a personal meaning to me, a pink bathrobe, a white button down shirt, a white t-shirt, a mink stole and a mink collar. The bathrobe is mine, the white button down shirt is my husband’s, the minks belonged to my mother. The mink stole and mink collar were worn decades ago by my mother. I remember as a child my parents going out for the evening, my mother looking very glamorous in her furs.
My work relies on identity and the way clothing is used to manipulate the view of ourselves and about the stories that are imbued in clothing. The mink stole and collar are emblematic of glamor and high style. The bathrobe is comfort and warmth, only worn in the privacy of home. The white button down shirt portrays the corporate dress code. In my paintings and drawings I have manipulated the clothing to add an additional meaning, sometimes on the floor, tossed aside after disrobing. Some of the clothing hang on a simple wire hanger, a simple pose, as though I am creating a portrait. In each of my pieces I pay particular attention to the movement of the fabric, the nature of a fabric fold, the nuances of the fabric. Each piece tells its own story.
Susan was born in Norwalk, CT and spent her youth in South Salem, NY, a suburb of New York City. Susan attended Westchester Community College, Valhalla, NY for two years transferring to Buffalo State College, Buffalo, NY, receiving a BS in Art Education. She married and moved to Massachusetts welcoming 2 children and working at home to raise them. Employment in the arts included gallery assistant, graphic designer and museum arts educator. Susan studied at the Rhode Island School of Design Continuing Education Program participating in several courses in drawing and painting. She attended the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, College of Visual and Performing Arts, graduating with an MFA in Painting. Susan’s studio is located in her home in Attleboro, MA and teaches at the Danforth Art Museum at Framingham State University, Framingham MA. Her work has been exhibited throughout the northeast.
