True artists are usually free spirits, it’s just
that some are more apparently so than
others. We get to engage with an
exhilarating, though unassuming free
spirit when we enter the GoldenBelt Rm. 100 Gallery
in Durham this month. Suzy Andron’s organic,
dimensional paintings and “Polytychs” greet us as
they swirl with life force and contained energy.
These works recall the throbbing within us that ties
each to the other in celebration of our unity.
Sometimes the free spirit is masked. The three long
panels of dancing, glittering energy in “Carnival” are
darkly cloaked in mystery. Texture in other pieces,
may be like peeling tree bark and lava flow from
within the earth. These are then surface gilded by
sunlight and star shine to make our urge to touch
them almost irresistible.
A serious painter since graduating from Pratt
Institute in Brooklyn, NY, Suzy later earned a
Masters Degree in Landscape Architecture at North
Carolina State University where she was privileged
to work as Teaching Assistant for two years with
iconic Professor Joe Cox. Andron persistently
pushes her own aesthetic boundaries just as she
taught her students to do at the University of North
Carolina-Greensboro and at Meredith College,
Raleigh, NC. Within the community, Andron was a cofounder
of the Raleigh Artist Community (RAC) that
later became the Visual Art Exchange in Raleigh.
Suzy is a long-time member of the Durham Art
Guild.
As Suzy pushed her own aesthetic boundaries, she
exercised a similar “push/pull” on her actual
painting format. Expanding upon the time-honored
tradition of Diptychs and Triptychs, she began
experimenting with multiples wherein each could
serve as a “stand-alone” composition, yet was
compositionally augmented by additional
elements. Suzy evolved her technique of developing
“Polytychs” in a very personal way. She defines these
as “any number of connected canvases coexisting
and fully in concert within a single framework.” The
geometry of these compositions continues to grow
increasingly complex and so does the number and
three-dimensionality of the combined canvases as
well as the irregularity of the perimeters. Most of
these works are connected within a unique, singular,
undulating frame. It is interesting to note that while
this exhibition is displaying nineteen pieces, they
are comprised of a total of sixty-three canvases.
SKYWAY TO VENUS is a “polytych” combining
eight small canvases. Each horizontal band is
formatted in the same way but the second line is offset,
making the overall frame quite different from
any ordinary painting. Its rectangular shape
geometrically coheres with the raised circle of
partially orbiting, gilded paths.
CARNIVAL is a compelling and dramatic grouping
of three vertical panels: two adjacent and touching,
while the third, on the right is at a small remove,
somewhat like the way we, as individuals within a
dynamic group, demand a modicum of separation.
Each panel evokes an undulating, masked figure in
mystery and abandon.
STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART is entirely different
in mood, material and composition. It is a single
square panel superimposed by a diagonally set,
smaller canvas into which a hole has been cut
opening to the layer behind. I can “smell” the green
of the earth, the dry leaves (pleated paper) and the
piercing of the heart. The dynamic is both expulsive
and vulnerable.
HARVEST (assembled from three canvases) is a
verdant, lyrical growing thing. Set on the diagonal,
its pod-like form bursts up and outward, sending
out spiraling tendrils. Truly alive! Jerry’s Artarama in
Raleigh commissioned Suzy to teach her “polytych”
process in a workshop that would be filmed and
made available to patrons in the store and on line.
It was during this workshop that she created
“Harvest.”
Andron’s work is hung in several corporate art
collections including SAS Institute, Design Box, Red
Hat Corporate Office, and the Salvation Army.
Recent Exhibits have been in the Rosenzweig
Gallery, Durham; Associated Artists Gallery in
Winston Salem; NC, Salon Moxie in Raleigh, NC;
Holly Springs Culture Center in Holly Springs, NC;
Works of Heart, Raleigh;; Jibarra’s Restaurant,
Raleigh; Featured artist with Art-Exchange at
NeoCon and Park-Art Gallery on Park Avenue, NYC.
“My recent works have involved the recipient and
careful investigation of where the piece will reside—
studying the ambient and artificial lighting, the
colors, textures and fabrics of the space. This
approach blends all 40 years of art into the best for
today…and tomorrow.”-Suzy Andron. Please visit
my website at www.andron.com
Artwork by Durham Art Guild member SUZY
ANDRON can be experienced at GOLDENBELT,
Room 100 Gallery, 807 E. Main St., Durham, NC
27701 from February 1- 25.
Adrienne Garnett is an arts writer, artist and art
educator in NC and New York.
14 A
