Meet artist Susan Cronk

About

Artist Susan Cronk presents contemporary art at her new painting studio and gallery in the Rosemary District neighborhood of Sarasota, Florida. Her pieces are large format acrylic and mixed media on canvas brimming with vibrant color and subjective in nature. Most paintings begin with an extemporaneous gestural application and as Susan would articulate, “they begin to paint themselves.” Only a subconscious, keen sense of design and color will infiltrate her interior vision as the painting moves along. “I never know how a painting will turn out, and that constant mystery adds interest to the work and ignites my curiosity. That is why I have always shied away from trying to label my ‘style,’ content or method. It is the freedom of exploration that is important. I am as inquisitive of the final artistic representation in a new work as the viewer would be.”

As Susan would tell you, her mood on any given day will likely determine if she paints a pure abstract, figurative abstract or still life abstraction. But, in most of her paintings you will likely find some semblance of the human figure. “I tend to paint the human condition, which in my mind represents the eternal struggle between the subjective interior vision of self and one’s place in the world, and the weighty presence of a formidable reality. Still, there is joy, and where and when it can be found I will paint it.”

It is through color, line, shape and form that a figurative expressionism is achieved in her work. Her figures are distorted in a radical way, as is her perspective on still life and gestural abstract. This is simply a reflection of the inner psychology and spiritual aspects of her work. “Paintings are meant to be felt deeply, as well as seen. The complex nature of the creative process will always reflect the struggle an artist encounters as the work progresses and essentially completes itself. Every artist understands that such ‘completion’ of a work is never finite; there is always a new set of questions to answer. And thus, a new work of art will begin, each as unique as the singular artist who will draft it.” This personal exploration into the psyche and agilities of the artist enables us as the consumers of art to form our own perceptions about the piece. Is it pleasurable, disturbing, confusing?

Whatever the response, we know it must illicit some reaction either emotional, intellectual or both, for it to be successful. In Susan’s case, she does not define her painting as pure abstraction or pure figuration, but rather a blending of the two, just as the work so often contains the balance and imbalance of life itself. In conclusion, a visit to Studio on 5th is a trip into one artist’s vision of the “stuff of life” and just how colorful and resonating that can be.