Growing up in Appalachia, I became interested in the unseen natural systems that surround us. My paintings invite viewers to slow down and participate by make connections between recurring constructions in the natural world, from the macro to the micro and to consider the fragile relationships between them - how systems in nature correlate and coexist, though often at vastly different scales and rates. I use materials in a way that echo organic processes, reflecting on notions of time, accretion and decay, order and change. I combine materials to create intricate interactions, covering sections of the work with domes, like small microclimates, that allow me to alter the materials as they cure. I wear away paint layers to reveal the evidence of previous versions of the work and build them up again, creating my own imagined ecosystems that pay homage to the dense and precarious networks that surround us.
These paintings map a fantastical, psychologically-tinged landscape where ever-changing organic forms combine with references to the decorative and glimpses of the grotesque. I am interested in both our idealized, mediated notions of nature and the interdependent, and contradictory relationship we have with it. Revealing the tension between the foreignness and the familiarity of the natural world, the paintings intimate my the wondrous and sometimes uneasy experience of participating in it, how it persistently weaves its way into our subconscious, speaking to both the unease and connection of our collective experiences.
I am marvel at how scientists discover systems in nature and employ that knowledge. As an artist, I am exploring the spaces in-between that knowledge, the myriad possibilities that cannot all be named or delineated. My most recent series, begun in 2023, grew out my experiences with the community of scientists at University of Virginia's Mountain Lake Biological Station. There, l begin a project depicting scientific network mapping combined with forms encountered at Mountain Lake, such as chocolate tube slime mold, and mycelium networks. The Tainted Oasis series, 2019-2024 originated at a residency at the Studios of Key West, and considered the interactions of people and distinct natural places, referencing red tides, coral reef decline, invasive species and suburban sprawl.
Bio
Suzanna Fields (b. 1975 Abingdon, VA) lives and works Richmond, VA. She has exhibited with museums and galleries throughout the Mid-Atlantic and South including: Weatherspoon Museum of Art, Greensboro, NC, Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke VA, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, University of Southern Mississippi Museum of Art, Hattiesburg, MS, Irvine Contemporary, Washington DC, and the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, Virginia Beach, VA. She is the recipient of a Bethesda Painting Award, a Liquitex Purchase Prize and a Trawick Prize finalist. She has been selected for residencies at Mountain Lake Biological Station, Studios at Key West, and Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her work is in private and public collections including: the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Eleanor Wilson Museum, Hollins University, Capital One, Kimpton Hotels, Philip Morris, Retail Data, Bill and Pam Royall, and Shepard and Amanda Fairey. She received her MFA in Painting in 2001 from Virginia Commonwealth University Richmond, VA and her BA in Art and English from Mary Baldwin University in 1997.
Hanging In Mid-Air, detail, 2025.