Susan Washington

A strong narrative runs through Susan Washington's work with references to her long involvement with collage, textiles, fashion, and art. By age five, Susan was tutored in the art of origami and sumi ink drawing by her Japanese godmother as well as watercolors from her father. Having spent her teens deconstructing dressmaking as a punk fashionista, Washington landed on 5th Avenue working at Dior and Nautica. Washington relocated to Baltimore in April of 2021 where she has a large studio on W. Pratt Street. Along with continuing to explore her Subway Sonnet’s body of work, Susan is commissioned for large-scale paintings and works closely with designers on residential and hospitality design projects.

Gravitating to the oeuvres of Rauschenberg, Cy Twombly and Joan Mitchell, Washington has continued to push boundaries, re-inventing her work with each new piece while continuing to maintain the cohesive thread that creates her signature look.

“My work is inherently autobiographical.” says Washington. “My Subway Sonnet body of work feels as if they have been created by random collaboration in the same way public telephone booths and trains quickly filled up with stickers and graffiti. The surface is archaeological, stratified with graphic artifacts as some, previously placed, are torn away and others overlaid upon existing iconography. The picture plane is scratched and eroded and scrawled upon. Song lyrics and Shakespearean quotes share the same space with philosophy and street slang. There is rough poetry in the un-painterly rhythm and coarseness of this approach. I have tied together all the imagery and text to imbue each painting with a particular and specific mantra that ranges from “fame” and “success” to “love” and “prosperity”. I pay homage to post-war American art and the neo-expressionists.”

Washington incorporates icons from the world’s religions and philosophies, pictures torn from art and fashion magazines and references to lyrics from my favorite bands find their way onto the canvas. All paintings are created on canvas using oil paint, spray paint and paper. Her work has been exhibited and collected internationally and have also been included in film and motion pictures including The Book Club with Diane Keaton, LA’s Finest, The Morning Show, The Laundromat.