Susan Goethel Campbell
Multi-Disciplinary Artist Artist-in-Residence/Interim Head, Print Media Department Cranbrook Academy of Art Huntington Woods, Michigan susangoethelcampbell.com
Photo by Tim Thayer
Susan Goethel Campbell is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work focuses on the intersection of nature, culture, and the engineered environment. For the past year, Susan has served as artist-in-residence and interim head of the print media department at Cranbrook Academy of Art, where she will continue for the 2017-18 academic year. She also earned an MFA in printmaking at Cranbrook Academy of Art. Susan’s work has been exhibited internationally in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and Slovenia, and nationally at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, Queens Art Museum, Crystal Bridges Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Detroit Institute of Arts, The Drawing Center New York, and International Print Center New York. In 2009, she was one of 18 artists selected for the inaugural Kresge Artist Fellowship. Susan has also been awarded residencies at the Banff Centre for the Arts, Flemish Center for Graphic Arts, Jentel Foundation, Beisinghoff Print Residency, and Print Research Institute of North Texas. She taught studio art for 15 years at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, and has been a visiting artist in numerous institutions in the United States and abroad. Susan is represented by the David Klein Gallery, Detroit; Aspinwall Editions, New York; and Galerie Tom Blaess, Bern, Switzerland. When she’s not working, you can find her traveling in the United States and abroad enjoying both urban and rural environments. Susan’s studio is located in Ferndale, Michigan, and she resides nearby in Huntington Woods.
FAVORITES
Book: Rebecca Solnit’s A Field Guide to Getting Lost
Destination: Bern, Switzerland in August to work on a print project with Tom Blaess that will be exhibited at his gallery next April.
Motto: Ars longa, vita brevis (art is long, life is short). Don’t wait, do it now.
Sanctuary: My studio
THE QUERY
Where were you born?
Grand Rapids, Michigan
What were some of the passions and pastimes of your earlier years?
Doing anything outside - biking, horseback riding, skiing, ice skating, and participating in and experiencing nature.
What is your first memory of art as an experience?
My mother exposed me to art at a very early age. When I was five she attended classes in the basement of the Grand Rapids Art Museum, and on several occasions I would come along. I specifically remember the ceramics studio and the contrast in smells of the clay, from dry to dusty to damp. Watching adults intently transform a material on a wheel or by hand was impactful. The intensity of their concentration seemed to merge mind and matter into form. I thought this must be what art is.
How did you begin to realize your intrigue with the visual arts?
The visceral experience of working with materials in my childhood was the starting point for me, and my intrigue expanded from there. Also, my father, a paper salesman who sold paper to printers, would bring sample books with Japanese papers home for me to play with. I remember him talking about troubleshooting with commercial printers about how ink sat on paper. It is no surprise to me that my primary medium is printmaking.
Why does this form of artistic expression suit you?
I love working with process and materials. Traditional printmaking is steeped in process. A print can be anything from singular and painterly to photographic and time based to sculptural and repetitious. The flexibility of the medium suits me; allowing me to adapt the concept of recording information from one material to another in new ways.
How and when did you get your start in the art world?
There is not one event that gave me a start in the art world; rather it has been an evolutionary process. Being an artist takes hard work and perseverance. I would not be where I am today without the support and encouragement of my mother in my formative years, and my late husband. I also had many supportive teachers along the way. My start came from getting my work out of the studio and into juried exhibitions. Eventually this led to other opportunities.
What formats do you typically utilize in your practice?
The formats I use in my practice are broad. I select a format that is best suited for the ideas I am considering. My work has become more installation-based over the past several years because it allows me to engage a physical space. Other formats I use fall into the realm of social practice and a non-gallery platform. These projects are intended to engage a broad audience with local and global environments.
What led to the conceptualization of Aerials, a series of woodblock prints focused on aerial views of cities and atmospheric phenomena?
I started working on the Aerial series while engaged in a year-long project of recording the weather over the city of Detroit with a web cam. The camera took still images of the city throughout the day and night. I loved the transformation of the city at night into tiny patterns of light under different atmospheric conditions. Also, I travel a lot and started documenting other cities at night while flying. I used the original photographs as inspiration for the woodblock prints. After inking a block and transferring the ink to paper, imperfections in the wood and unique grain pattern allow me to create the nuance of atmosphere.
How would you describe your creative process?
My creative process almost always starts with a question and playful experimentation of a material or an idea. Somewhere along the line my hope is that these things merge and the work takes on a life of its own. There are many failures along the way, but when I find new terrain I will explore it for years.
What materials do you prefer to work with?
I continue to work with a variety of materials but will always return to ink and paper in some form. For the past four years, I have been using grass and earth in a project called Grounds. I make my own vacuum-formed molds and grow grass in the trays until the roots conform to the contour of the tray. Once the grass is root-bound, I remove the trays and flip the grass root side up and exhibit the low relief forms on the floor in repeating patterns.
What was the greatest delight, and challenge, in creating Detroit Weather: 365 Days?
The delight of this project was in seeing a year’s worth of weather in a three-hour video, however, I wound up splitting the video into two channels at the summer and winter solstice to reduce the length. The greatest challenge of this project was in managing the huge amount of data to be archived. The web camera was programmed to take a single, still image every minute, 24 hours a day for one year. The stills were then compressed into the video format and run at 22 fps. I had to pull images off the server about every three or four days or it would crash.
What three tools of the trade can’t you live without?
A Japanese drill punch, large rubber roller, and etching press.
Is there a period/project along the way that has presented an important learning curve?
In the late 90s, I decided to branch out from primarily making works on paper to creating interactive objects that had narrative content. I made a series of magnetic, brick-shaped books inspired by the decline of rustbelt cities like Detroit, along with suburban sprawl. This was a pivotal project because I started working with objects, new formats, and materials. The learning curve of working with non-traditional materials and new formats was huge but immensely rewarding.
What themes/topics dominate your work?
My work is focused on landscape, impermanence, and the anthropocentric environment; basically questioning nature made by humans.
How has your aesthetic evolved over the years?
In my late 20s and early 30s, I worked with a collage aesthetic which literally and physically allowed me to work with disparate elements. My work has evolved to a more minimal aesthetic over the years and has become more conceptually based.
Who are some of your artistic influences?
Very early influences were Romare Bearden, Kurt Schwitters, and Paul Klee. I was especially inspired by Klee’s writings and Schwitter’s idea of Merz, which means to create connections, preferably between everything in this world. Other influences include the Hudson River painters, Robert Ryman, Agnes Martin, Eva Hesse, the video work of Bill Viola, and the installations of Doris Salcedo. The choreography of Pina Bausch, Merce Cunningham, Trisha Brown, and Tywla Tharp has also been an influence.
Do you have a favorite artistic resource that you turn to?
I like the work of minimalist composers and often play this type of music in my studio. Steve Reich’s Music for 18 Musicians is a piece I always listen to when I need to get centered and focused.
From where do you draw inspiration?
Being present.
What three things can’t you live without?
Light, space, and plants.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
Stay focused and true to yourself.
Is there a book or film that has changed you?
There are several books and films that have impacted me. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one, as are the poems in The Voice of Things by Francis Ponge. Both authors write from a lucid and unexpected place that feels both ordinary and profound. As far as film, Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now had a huge impact on me. It was dark, poetic, and culturally significant.
What drives you these days?
Opportunity, several deadlines, and continued curiosity.