Susanna Barger
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Artist Statement
Hopefully, the impression on entering this space is that some book-making scavenger recluse has claimed it in order to unleash their collection. “A book” provides delicious material expectations to both flirt with and reject. There is a definition for what “a book” is, but infinite possibilities in regards to what “a book” can become. With “book” as an anchor my narrative brain was able to whirl in any direction the moment– stitch, weave, sand, smear, gouge, tape, click, stack, snap, link, tear, burn, print, glue, pose- demanded. Now I have this record; a castaway library scrounged from everything in arms’ reach during necessary but involuntary stretches of solitude.
Making is not so much a choice as a compulsion. If I was not exhibiting work I would still be hoarding photo prints and brown paper and spare buttons and wood blocks and that chair back and far too many scraps of forgotten writing in the hope of brewing some late-night alchemy with them. Offhandedly, I call my pieces “cursed”. “Cursed” is a quality most frequently assigned to objects which to me feel uncannily alive. A curse is an aura, a connection. In that respect, cursing is aspirational. Successfully cursed works resonate, even beyond my own obsession. That miserable quest for resonance is a trap I fall into each time I dig out a particularly self-assertive fabric scrap.
As for my role as the artist, I imagine myself, in my eight by sixteen studio/home, as some Ben Gunn-Spider-Ghost hybrid monster, spinning and spinning a nest of curses for tomb robbers to finally crack open and unleash.
![Arranged on a diagonal, starkly lit in a dark corner, is a pile of multiple paper and fiber art pieces. On the wall is a glimpse of a large work made of knotted fibers. From left to right on the floor is a colorful crocheted beaded object draped over an indistinguishable book, with a white, receipt paper book balanced on top. Its cover is flipped open. Behind the arrangement is a brown paper bag standing upright](_images/01_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample / Pile Of Artist Books // Various media // Various sizes
![Balanced in a set up of wooden boxes with brown fabric around them is a cluster of art books made of various papers, fabrics, and bound in various scales. Some are printed, others illustrated by hand. There are seven books total in the photo.](_images/02_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample / Little Books On Little Shelves // Various media // Various sizes
![A book with alternating black and reflective pages is stood on its short edge, pages fanned out, in a gritty sink. The image is starkly lit in a dark room.](_images/03_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample / Book In Grit Sink // Coptic-stitched black and reflective cardstock bound in vinyl and decorative leather with bead and cotton thread accents. // Roughly 8.5 x 6.5 x 6 inches
![A close up shot from the floor looking up, various fiber knots, twists, colors, and letters painted onto plastic bottle caps can be seen tangled together](_images/04_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Detail Shot: Dissected Book // T-shirt fabric, yarn, dyed silk ends, cotton rope, acrylic paint, bottle caps. // 9 x 5 feet
![Balanced in a set up of wooden boxes with brown fabric around them are three art books made of various papers, fabrics, and bound in various scales. One book is laid open in a paper bag to an excerpt from the book of Genesis. Another stands on its long edge to allow a glimpse of energetic sharpie drawings. Another is tucked into a wooden box so we only see the studded leather and beaded spine.](_images/05_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample / Little Books On Little Shelves 2 // Various media // Various Sizes
![On a background of white, bandage like polyester and next to the spine of a lacey, out of focus book is a miniscule black art book with white painted lettering barely readable. A nail lays next to it on the left.](_images/06_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample With Focus on “Doll Book” // Various media, Doll Book being leather, coated ribbon, cotton thread, and acrylic paint. // Various sizes, Doll Book being 2 ¾ x 1 ⅞ x ⅞ inches
![Balanced in a set up of wooden boxes with a few scattered nails around it is a white paper book bound in white fabric with off-white thread. The cover hangs open to show the inside back cover, a black colored pencil rendering of an ultrasound.](_images/07_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample With Focus on Inside Back Cover of “Isaac” // Various media, Isaac being Arnhem paper, handkerchief fabric, and black colored pencil // Various sizes, Isaac being 3 ½ x 4 x ½ inches
![Balanced in a set up of wooden boxes with brown fabric around them are several art books made of various papers, fabrics, and bound in various scales. They are leaned in such a way to let the viewer read titles off the covers of those that have them.](_images/08_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample / Little Books On Little Shelves 3 // Various media // Various Sizes
![Starkly lit in a dark room, a long strip of white fabric with little threads hanging off is wound around a white pole, allowed to roll and obscure the printed imagery.](_images/09_susannabarger-660x990.jpg)
Experimental Installation of Piece “Mebu” // Dye-sublimated print on polyester stitched with cotton thread // 23 x 1.5 feet
![Starkly lit in a dark room, two artist books balance on the edge of a sink. One is made of collected receipts and bound in a chip bag. The other is aged paper.](_images/10_susannabarger-660x440.jpg)
Studio Sample / Books On Sink Edge // Various media // Various sizes