Susan Sills

SUSAN SILLS
LIFE-SIZE WOOD CUTOUTS FROM THE OLD MASTERS

My life-size, free-standing cutouts are an attempt at a whimsical restructuring of art history. By releasing familiar images from the confinement of the frame and thrusting them into real space the paintings confront the contemporary viewer in new and surprising ways that invariably provoke not only smiles but also fresh insights. Renoir's dancing couple, Velasquez' princess, Gauguin's Tahitian maiden all somehow change when they enter our rooms.

With a jigsaw I carefully cut fine birch plywood to shape, and then recreate in oil paints the original artist's technique, be it the heavy impasto of Van Gogh or the subtle glazes of Ingres. Rendered life size regardless of the size of the original, they are able to relate not only to us but also to each other.

Bringing these characters into the 21st century is another issue. If we are to relate to them on a personal level they must somehow be in our world. With props and unexpected combinations, each character can take on an entirely new meaning. Using wit and sometimes humor, a new story is born. Sometimes the commentary is art-referential, a twist on another art form or another esthetic: art about art. Some of the works are simply the figures as illusion. "Is that really someone over there?"SUSAN SILLS
LIFE-SIZE WOOD CUTOUTS FROM THE OLD MASTERS

My life-size, free-standing cutouts are an attempt at a whimsical restructuring of art history. By releasing familiar images from the confinement of the frame and thrusting them into real space the paintings confront the contemporary viewer in new and surprising ways that invariably provoke not only smiles but also fresh insights. Renoir's dancing couple, Velasquez' princess, Gauguin's Tahitian maiden all somehow change when they enter our rooms.

With a jigsaw I carefully cut fine birch plywood to shape, and then recreate in oil paints the original artist's technique, be it the heavy impasto of Van Gogh or the subtle glazes of Ingres. Rendered life size regardless of the size of the original, they are able to relate not only to us but also to each other.

Bringing these characters into the 21st century is another issue. If we are to relate to them on a personal level they must somehow be in our world. With props and unexpected combinations, each character can take on an entirely new meaning. Using wit and sometimes humor, a new story is born. Sometimes the commentary is art-referential, a twist on another art form or another esthetic: art about art. Some of the works are simply the figures as illusion. "Is that really someone over there?"