Suzanne Song USA, b. 1974

Suzanne Song's work explores the realm of 'space,' probing its boundaries as a conceptual, non-material entity. By establishing spatial conditions aligned with her unique perceptual understanding, Song renders her paintings and installations using minimal lines and a subdued color palette. Employing techniques like trompe-l’oeil, she subtly challenges the historical pursuit of verisimilitude in painting while emphasizing the materiality of her supports. Song’s geometrically abstract canvases transcend the two-dimensional plane, blurring the line between sensory perception and representation.

The interplay between color, texture, and abstract shape serves as the cornerstone of Song’s artistic practice. Conceptually intricate yet aesthetically delicate, she meticulously examines the interplay between horizontal and vertical lines, as well as the dynamics of space and place. Consequently, her series of shaped canvases explore the portrayal of empty space, a theme that Song continually revisits and reinterprets throughout her career.

In this context, her recent works examine the interaction between light and canvas, capturing the nuanced manner in which light illuminates the surface, a sensation she delicately invokes by foregrounding geometrical elements in a minimalistic manner. Balancing between exterior and interior realms, reality and its representation, Song’s spaces exude a timeless quality, transcending historical constraints, while simultaneously interrogating painting as a canonical form.

Suzanne Song lives and works in New York, US. She has received a BFA from Clemson University and an MFA from Yale School of Art at Yale University. She had solo and group exhibitions at venues such as The Drawing Center, New York (2002), and Doosan Gallery, New York (2011). She has received fellowships from the Smack Mellon Artist Studio program and the New York Foundation of the Arts (NYFA), and she is currently a member of the Elizabeth Foundation of the Arts (EFA). Her work is represented in the collections of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design.