| SUZANNE VITTI ARTIST STATEMENT |
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As a young child, art was my one great escape. It allowed me to travel to beautiful, vibrant landscapes and faraway places. Moving to Nassau, Bahamas during my teen years also molded my artistic sensibilities, with it's tapestry of different cultures and phenomenal beauty. My work reflects dreams of bustling street markets overflowing with aromas of sweet ripe fruits, pefumed oils and delicate flowers. I am drawn to the beauty of so many things, cool swirling waters filled with graceful floating fish and sea creatures, the detail of a silk kimono and the texture of a conch shell. Detail has always been my passion. As a child, I added wood grain and intricate wallpaper to coloring book pictures. In elementary school I made pop-ups out of construction paper and added grass, bark and feathers to give my work dimension. I admire the work of many artists, from the Japanese wood block prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige to the bold colors and imagination of Alexander Calder and Theodore Geisel. I have worked as a muralist, custom auto painter and a resident makeup artist for Yves Saint-Laurent. Working as a makeup artist inspired me to begin a study in pottery. I wanted to create my work from the ground up, not just add color to an already finished masterpiece. All my work is hand-built. Tiles form a large part of my body of work. My tiles are hand carved, utilizing several different clays, hand pressed then painted with underglazes or high fire glazes and fired to cone 5 or 6. Glass beads, feathers and other organic materials also adorn my work. I studied pottery at O.C.C. in Royal Oak, Michigan with Charlie Blosser and Jay Przepiora, and at Pewabic Pottery in Detroit, Michigan with David McGee. I since have relocated to Greenville, South Carolina, an area rich in ceramic tradition, to follow my passion. |
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