Visual artist Suzun Hughes opens ART by Night on Thursday September 2nd with a new series of poetry-inspired paintings at Roanoke’s Wilson Hughes Gallery.
Through explorations with texture, color, luminosity and surface, Suzun recreates the organic and man-made forms around her into abstracted unions of shape and color.
In her latest series Suzun explores the use of text as line to create form by using poems in multiple languages as a source of text. Her goal is not to have a legible reading of the text but rather to seduce an emotional content from the viewer.
Suzun used five well-known works for the project: Both English and French language versions of Rimbaud’s “Motion,Venus Anadyomene,” and “Memory” as well as William Wordsworth’s “Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood”. A final piece, entitled “Wordy Woman” is based on Suzun’s own observations about herself vis-à-vis her astrological sign : The Libra.
Each poem was written down in Suzun’s own cursive handwriting — a style she observes, is becoming less common in the era of digital communications. As opposed to reciting a poem, writing each piece out helped her more deeply absorb Rimbaud and Wordsworth’s words, as well as helped her hone in on her own writing.
ART by Night is held on the First Thursday of every month from 5 PM to 9 PM. This cultural event showcases the thriving arts community in Roanoke, and the diverse galleries in the downtown area. There are openings, demonstrations, refreshments, live music, and much talk about art. The Wilson Hughes Gallery will also feature the sculpture and furniture art by John Wilson and will feature jazz guitarist Gareth Schoonover.
For more information, visit: www.wilsonhughesgallery.com and www.suzun.com.