Susan Lenz
Two Hours at the Beach
2020

About the Item

Artist Commentary: During the spring of 2011, Columbia fiber and installation artist Susan Lenz spent a mere two hours along South Carolina’s coastline collecting beach trash. She resisted cigarette butts, aluminum cans, dog poop, and debris of enormous size. That summer, Lenz combined her “trash stash” with recycled acrylic felt, netting, and thread. She called this unique art quilt Two Hours at the Beach. Susan says, “Beaches, just like the ocean’s water, are precious natural resources. They are the home of a diverse wildlife population and a major source of tourism in coastal states. Litter is something that needs to be addressed EVERYWHERE … from the world’s coastlines to our neighborhood streets.” Keywords: assemblage, collage, found objects, objects, beach, water, bch, ocean Artist Biography: Susan Lenz describes herself as the daughter of German immigrants, a soul mate of a wife, a failed mother, a homeowner, an avid traveler, a custom picture framer, a college graduate, and the servant to an adorable cat. Yet, she is first and foremost, AN ARTIST. Using needle and thread, Susan works with an overall theme toward a mixed media installation. She stitches both by hand and machine and indulges a passion for book arts and 3D found art objects. Altering found photos is an obsession. In another life, Susan is convinced she was a kidnapper whose fixation with letters snipped from assorted, antique ephemera continued into her current life and studio practice. Stained glass windows, decorative building motifs, and even aerial views of urban cities inspire Susan’s custom framed, decorative fiber art series. Each piece is a collage of synthetic fabrics with metallic foiling, free-motion machine embroidery and unique melting techniques developed by the artist. The substrata is recycled felt that was once the packaging material for a kayak being shipped from a distributor to a retail outlet. Each piece is a unique, one-of-a-kind creation inspired by the colors and shapes of Austrian Freidensreich Hundertwasser's eco-friendly buildings and his concepts of individualism. Susan’s work has appeared in national publications and juried exhibitions and at fine craft shows including the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Smithsonian Craft Shows. Her work is in the permanent collection of the Textile Museum in Washington, DC and the McKissick Museum in South Carolina. Susan is represented by the Grovewood Gallery in Asheville, and her solo shows and installations have been mounted all over the country.

Creator:

Susan Lenz

Creation Year:

2020

Dimensions:

Height: 51 in (129.54 cm)Width: 36 in (91.44 cm)Depth: 0.2 in (5.08 mm)

Medium:

Found Objects,Mixed Media

Period:

21st Century

Condition:

Gallery Location: