Susan Lizotte’s studio is a trip around the world, from history known and unknown, through the surface and into layers of meaning, venturing from the abstract to the literal. Each piece, regardless of the style or the series she’s created, resonates with urgency and tells a story that’s nuanced in technique and narrative.
Her Mercury series is about power, a potent riff on the seen, unseen, and the discovered and undiscovered since Columbus discovered the new world. With the god Mercury known as messenger, this series uses that capability to send a message about what you can’t see in this world, from political events to the darkness of the human heart. Above, the artist’s large scale “He Thought It Would Last.”
Above: The Old Order
Her series, the artist says, “tackles misuse and abuse of power.” Starting from Columbus reaching the New World in 1492, touching on mercury as an element used by doctors of the time period to fight syphilis, and inspired by Mark F. Blaxill’s “The Age of Autism: Mercury, Medicine and a Manmade Epidemic,” Lizotte takes on poisoned subjects with grace and beauty.
Above, “New Medievalism,” whose almost comical demons reveal what we fear and don’t fear in today’s global culture.
Her more abstract works captivate in form. Working in aerosol and oil on canvas, she creates space and movement that is both translucent and oblique. The oils make sharp images. “The layers are all about the idea of what we see and don’t see,” she says.
She was inspired by Pascal Cotte. “He runs Lumiere Technology in Paris,” Lizotte explains. “He contributed to the knowledge of the Mona Lisa due to his multi-spectral digitization, pealing back layers to see what we don’t see in the ultra violet and infrared spectrum.”
We may see only a middle range of light wavelengths, but Lizotte seeks to lift up the rock on our cultural and emotional vision and expose and create a new inner dimension. Her spray paint creates a fuzzy but distinct feeling of depth. What do we see when we allow ourselves to fall inside her work?
Open your eyes and learn to see…Lizotte’s vision will pull you into history and the power for greater insight in one fell swoop.