Susan Block

Susan Block holds a BFA from Syracuse University and a MFA from the Art Institute of Chicago. In addition to her artwork, she has also won acclaim in the performing arts. Susan’s work is shown in the US as well as in Europe.

Her paintings are a result of a bucolic childhood, and what she describes as “an artistic and eccentric family.” She was also deeply effected by the events of 9/11.

Block works from photos she takes or finds. “I scrounge, steal, pore through books, wait and watch. I am very particular about what I am after. I want a certain kind of energy. Having found a subject that moves me, I do a lot of drawing and under painting. It takes a good deal of acuity to capture a horse on the hoof, however my paintings are about more than the central image as important as it is. They are about creating an energized surface. I drip, scrape, throw and sometimes slather my medium—usually paste/acrylic or oil, like frosting. Other areas of the canvas remain wholly untouched. So, my subject matter is only part of the process. Not the be-all and end-all. My best work happens when I turn off my brain and let the part of me that paints, paint full-tilt.”