Susan York


Susan York is an American artist and educator, primarily known for her reductive cast graphite sculpture, and a working process that merges precise geometrical forms with unexpected elements of asymmetry. She lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico where the quality of light and expansive emptiness of the high desert landscape provides inspiration for her minimalist approach.

Early life and education

York was born in Newport, Rhode Island.
In 1972, York received a BFA in studio arts from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. In 1995, York received an MFA in ceramics from Cranbrook Academy of Art. While in college, York created a body of floor-oriented assemblage work. These flat reductive works marked transitions between 2D and 3D materials.

Career

After graduating from UNM, York continued her art practice in Santa Fe, where she had a studio space at a local Zen Center. In 1982, York attended an Agnes Martin lecture, where she recalls the impact of Martin's statement: ‘‘My paintings are not about what is seen. They are about what is known forever in the mind.’’ This was a pivotal experience in her development as an artist and an important event foreshadowing a mentoring friendship that evolved, in years to follow, between York and Martin.
In 1997, as an artist in residence at the European Ceramic Work Center, in the Netherlands, York began to experiment, integrating forms she created within the rooms of a given space. This led to compositions of stacked fragile porcelain shards positioned next to objects blackened with graphite powder rubbed surfaces.
York's appreciation for precision is associated with principles of Minimalism, but unlike the machined sculptures produced by her predecessors in the 60's, her work bears the traces of a repetitive hands-on process.

Public collections

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