Installation photo by Jordan Whitten
Excerpt:
Shortly after her daughter was born, artist Suzanne Schireson started making pictures of solitary women immersed in their creative work. Painted in electric, fluorescent colors and loose, gestural strokes, Schireson’s women weave, measure, paint, write, weld, and photograph in small garages, backyards, vans, tents, and other provisional spaces. The women work by night because — like the artist herself — their daylight hours are filled with other obligations.
“In quarantine, I occupied more time with those I cared for, making flashes of solitude particularly rare,” Schireson, who lives in Providence, Rhode Island, wrote in an email to Hyperallergic. “I am fascinated by stories of how mothers and artists sustain their practice while taking care of others.” Each of her latest paintings is based on a creative caretaker she knows personally, though they contain a strong autobiographical component, too. “I often use my own body in the mirror as a point of departure,” she said, noting that “sometimes I feel as though I am acting out a story.”
Five of Schireson’s latest oil paintings on paper are featured in INSIDE ROOM, a temporary exhibition in small art gallery boxes installed in residential areas throughout Asheville, North Carolina. The art gallery boxes appeared in Asheville lastspringas a response to the pandemic’s shuttering of galleries and museums. Curators Suzanne Dittenber and Luke Whitlatch partnered with Tiger Strikes Asteroid Greenville and individual community members, who volunteered space in their front yards for ongoing exhibition projects. “We were especially interested in responding to the particular circumstance that COVID presented where people were spending most of their time in their homes and were eager to unplug and take walks,” Dittenber explained over email to Hyperallergic.
