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I am a Canadian visual artist, based in Whitehorse, Yukon. My practice is inspired by the human form and the challenges of expressing the human condition. I work in two and three dimensions, painting large-scale works in oil, and building sculptures from materials such as driftwood, wire, textiles and clay.
I have lived in many places, including overseas in Egypt and Zimbabwe, and each new experience has given me an appreciation for the fluid nature of ‘being.’ Originally from northern Ontario, I am most at home in the north and have lived on the traditional territory of the Kwanlin Dunn First Nation and the Ta’an Kwach’an Council since 2010. In 2021, I completed a Masters of Fine Art Degree at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. |
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artist's statement
My work is driven by an intense curiosity and desire to understand the human experience; to investigate and contemplate our experience as embodied beings in the contemporary world. I experience the world through the lens of my gender, as daughter, mother, sister, and now grandmother. Influenced by my current role as daughter/witness of elderly parents with dementia, I am particularly preoccupied with identity as related to memory, family and loss. My most recent body of work reflects this current focus.
The process and structure of the paintings draws upon various motifs: the trace, fragment, line, presence and absence. Memories are literally traces—electrochemical pathways that thread their way through the brain, tracing a new path with every recollection. These are expressed through the layered and wandering gesture of the blind contour lines that I employ; lines that are simultaneously accurate and fugitive. These are layered between colour fields of paint and patchwork-like colour fragments. I am drawn to saturated colours and tend towards a maximalist aesthetic, perhaps because it speaks to me of the vibrancy, chaos and complexity of the human subject. The paintings display various levels of finish, I suppose reflecting frustration of the thing that can’t be fully grasped.
My work is driven by an intense curiosity and desire to understand the human experience; to investigate and contemplate our experience as embodied beings in the contemporary world. I experience the world through the lens of my gender, as daughter, mother, sister, and now grandmother. Influenced by my current role as daughter/witness of elderly parents with dementia, I am particularly preoccupied with identity as related to memory, family and loss. My most recent body of work reflects this current focus.
The process and structure of the paintings draws upon various motifs: the trace, fragment, line, presence and absence. Memories are literally traces—electrochemical pathways that thread their way through the brain, tracing a new path with every recollection. These are expressed through the layered and wandering gesture of the blind contour lines that I employ; lines that are simultaneously accurate and fugitive. These are layered between colour fields of paint and patchwork-like colour fragments. I am drawn to saturated colours and tend towards a maximalist aesthetic, perhaps because it speaks to me of the vibrancy, chaos and complexity of the human subject. The paintings display various levels of finish, I suppose reflecting frustration of the thing that can’t be fully grasped.
Here's my cv for those seeking a little more information.
| c.v._suzannepaleczny_2022.pdf |
news
An artist’s guide to falling in love with Whitehorse: A creative hub where art is everywhere | Joseph Tisiga, CBC Arts, August 07, 2018
An Artist’s Profile: Suzanne Paleczny | Chloe Dragon Smith, March 8, 2018
Year in review: The Globe’s Arts team reflects on their favourite moments of 2017 | Marsha Lederman, Globe and Mail, December 15, 2017
CBC Radio Airplay | Tara McCarthy, November 10, 2017
Culturally Rewarding Experiences, Yukon| Renée LaVerné and Lawrie Crawford, ACS Magazine--Nov/Dec 2017
Blurring the Lines Between Human and Nature |Lawrie Crawford, Yukon North of Ordinary, Fall 2017
Larger than Life | Nicole Bauberger, What's Up Yukon, June 20, 2013
New Show of Portraits Mixes Softness of Beauty with Edge of Reality | Tamara Neely, What's Up Yukon, December 13, 2012
An artist’s guide to falling in love with Whitehorse: A creative hub where art is everywhere | Joseph Tisiga, CBC Arts, August 07, 2018
An Artist’s Profile: Suzanne Paleczny | Chloe Dragon Smith, March 8, 2018
Year in review: The Globe’s Arts team reflects on their favourite moments of 2017 | Marsha Lederman, Globe and Mail, December 15, 2017
CBC Radio Airplay | Tara McCarthy, November 10, 2017
Culturally Rewarding Experiences, Yukon| Renée LaVerné and Lawrie Crawford, ACS Magazine--Nov/Dec 2017
Blurring the Lines Between Human and Nature |Lawrie Crawford, Yukon North of Ordinary, Fall 2017
Larger than Life | Nicole Bauberger, What's Up Yukon, June 20, 2013
New Show of Portraits Mixes Softness of Beauty with Edge of Reality | Tamara Neely, What's Up Yukon, December 13, 2012