Susan Boonstra
Painter
Chicago, IL
I believe in the power of objects to hold stories that are intertwined with our own, and that through this animate-inanimate experience, objects can become meaningful relics of our experiences and thoughts.
To create a painting, I start with an idea and a few anchoring elements. Then over the course of weeks or months, I assemble a narrative grouping of objects that fit together like a conceptual puzzle. Laying paint on canvas is a labor of love, and through this process, the things I am painting are transformed into objects of love and meaning. The vase is no longer just a vase—it is now inseparable from the story of my painting.
I celebrate the differences in how people connect the dots between the elements I’ve included and bring their own experiences to bear in interpretation.
