Susan Kiefer

Carnal Knowledge (Geometric Abstraction, Minimalism, Josef Albers, Calming)

2023

Though born and raised in Kansas City, artist Susan Kiefer lived on the west coast for 30 years where she earned her BFA and MFA in printmaking from California College of Arts in San Francisco. Kiefer moved back to Kansas City in 2014, exhibiting geometric abstracts in various local galleries since. More recently, Kiefer has revisited figurative paintings as her perspective of expression. For Kiefer, the human body inspires mythical and visceral themes. Edna St. Vincent Millay says in one of her sonnets, “Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare.” Not at all “bare” my earliest geometric abstracts were quite expressive, clothed with loosely defined edges, lots of texture and bold color. That approach has evolved to clean, hard edges and bold shapes that prioritize the power of simplicity. While I enjoy the challenge of creating compelling paintings with a restricted image vocabulary, it is the idea of geometric shapes as unique to human thought that intrigues me. While Josef Albers and Piet Mondrian paid homage to the square and right angles, the circle, symbol of perfection and abstract representation of the sun and earth, is often my shape of choice. By simplifying and idealizing the shapes we see in our world, my geometric abstract paintings offer clarity and a meditatively calm kind of beauty.