Sue Burickson

Biography

Turning a Wound into Light- The Origin of Enlightened Heart

I spent a lot of time in hospitals caring for my sick husband. During hospital visits, I would bring my watercolors along and paint while he slept. I left the paintings so he could see them when he woke up. Hospital staff showed them around and discovered that patients, relatives and caregivers felt they were helped by seeing my paintings. The idea that I can help people cope with challenging situations through my art is what keeps me working every day.

My series Separations in the Silence shows the movement of energies during meditation.

My ongoing series entitled The New Normal, is an immersive experience of the explosion of new words during the pandemic. This new vocabulary unites us as it helps to make sense of changes which have suddenly become part of our everyday lives. Inventive language illuminates our shared humanity.

Influenced by Eastern philosophy and meditation my work Transmedia Portraits: The Inner Life of Centaurs” explores the tension that exists between the sense of the possibility of and obstacles to a relationship between the mind,feeling and body. The Centaur sculpture utilizes a cellphone and tablet to embed videos in the head and the chest. I am currently working on making him interactive. Viewers will ask him questions and he will speak his answers.

Artist statement

I am a conceptual artist whose work is focused on the interplay between art forms - the way poetry, sculpture, music, and painting relate to each other.

For centuries, art has inspired poets and poetry has inspired artists. The visual impact of a painting can be immediate. A poem communicates in a more subliminal way, unfolding through the senses as you go along. Not until the end of the poem - sometimes even later - do we feel its resonance or have its meaning dawn on us. My work on this theme explores the relationship at the crossroads of poetry and visual art utilizing watercolor, pen, ink, and printmaking.

Influenced by Eastern philosophy and meditation my work Transmedia Portraits: The Inner Life of Centaurs” explores the tension that exists between the sense of the possibility of and obstacles to a relationship between the mind and the feeling.

My Separations in the Silence series addresses the movement of energies during meditation.

 My current series entitled The New Normal, is about the explosion of new words during the pandemic. This new vocabulary unites us as it helps to make sense of changes that have suddenly become part of our everyday lives. Inventive language illuminates our shared humanity.