Susan Carr: My Language

Mark Borghi in Sag Harbor is pleased to present an exhibition of recent work by Susan Carr, on view May 7 - June 7, 2021.

As a lifelong learner, Susan Carr uses archetypes, metaphors, history, naivety and psychological ideas in her work. These motifs act as springboards for further investigation through various mediums and materials. For Carr, humility and love are crucial ingredients to create art. Being a mother has been an indispensable and a vital part of her life and art practice, and she has found great joy and inspiration in the strength of her familial relationships. Carr often depicts children or child-like imagery in her work, noting: “I like the idea of happy children perhaps because I am painting a new history for myself, a history where smiling comes easy.” Another reoccurring symbol in Carr’s work is the eye, which she began painting after the death of her son as a means to communicate with him: “Some say the circle represents totality, wholeness, eternity, timelessness and perfection. I like to think that all of those meanings can be found within the eye.”

 My Language presents Carr’s paintings and sculptures formed by a myriad of materials such as wood, yarn, rag and even life-size cotton dolls. The works are playful, vibrant and textural, characterized by her saturated palette and impasto technique that allows her figures to seemingly jump off their surface. Carr’s relates her studio to a science lab, where she is in a constant state of discovery and exploration into new ways of seeing things. My Language is an examination of Carr’s deeply intuitive and highly curious world.

In 1994  Carr earned her BFA from The School of The Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, MA. After winning the prestigious Fifth year “Traveling Scholars Award,” she returned in 2003 to earn her MFA in video and photography. Carr works in many mediums including sculpture, painting, the written word and photography. She recently published a small memoir in 2019 called “Tensions” of prose, poetry, photography and paintings. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and is featured in public and private collections. She has been awarded two career development grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as grants from The Davenport Company. Carr currently lives and works in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.