ABOUT SUE KATZ
BIOGRAPHY
After studying for a master’s degree in sculpture at Ohio State University, I studied ceramics with Peter Voulkos, UC Berkeley, and contemporary art history with Irving Sandler, New York University. While living in New York City I taught ceramics and contemporary art history at New Jersey City State University for five years. Next I moved to Colrain, Massachusetts, to raise a family. Then in Amherst, I co-founded and/or co-directed two community art galleries and started the Amherst Art Walk, the first monthly art walk in the region. Primarily I make art, “constructs” of paint and mixed media. I exhibit in the Amherst-Northampton area, New England and nationally.
RESUMÉ
EXHIBITIONS - ONE AND TWO PERSON SHOWS
CONSTELLATIONS, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2022
TRANSFORMATION, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2017
CIRCLE.SQUARE, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2014
CONSTRUCTS, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2013
TRANSFORMED, one person, Oresman Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 2008
OBJECTS FOUND, two person, Arno Maris Gallery, Westfield State College, Westfield, MA, 2008
NEW WORK, one person, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MA, 2005
SPRING, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2004
EMBEDDED, mixed media, two person shows, Windham Art Gallery, Brattleboro, VT, 2000-2001
WINDOWS, one person, Leverett Crafts & Art, Leverett, MA, 1998
MARKERS, one person, Burnett Gallery, Amherst, MA, 1997
ICONS/IDEA IMAGES, one person, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA, 1994
REGENERATION, SHIFTS IN FORM, SHAPES & SCAPES, TEXTURE, QUADRADA, SQUARE ROOTS, SIGNS OF LIFE,
FOUND, TATAMI, two person shows, Gallery A3, 2002-2023
EXHIBITIONS - GROUP SHOWS
RELATIONSHIPS hot/cold/intricate, juried show, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT, 2022
DIPTYCH PROJECT: Transatlantic Fusion, New England & European encaustic artists, The Commons,
Provincetown, MA, June, 2022
WALLS, juried show, New England Wax at Holocaust & Human Rights Center of Maine, Augusta, ME, 2021
LAYERING, juried show, New England Wax at Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA, summer 2021
BRIDGE THROUGH MY WINDOW, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2021
11:11 THE DEPTH, juried show at Fountain Street Fine Art, SOWA, Boston, MA, 2019
FUSION: ENCAUSTIC WORKS, Higgins Gallery, Cape Cod Community College, Baranstable, MA, 2019
BUZZ, group show about bees, Gallery Blink, Lexington, MA, 2017
VISION + VERSE, New England Wax at University of New England Art Gallery, Portland, ME, 2016
LENGTH X WIDTH X DEPTH, 11th Annual Encaustic Invitational, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tuscon, AZ, 2016
BENEATH THE SURFACE, New England Wax, Saco Museum, Saco, ME, 2016
NEW ENGLAND WAX AT GALLERY SEVEN, Maynard, MA, 2015
CHAOS + ORDER, New England Wax, River Tree Arts, Kennebunk, ME, 2015
ART ACROSS THE RIVER, Oxbow Gallery, Northampton, MA, 2015
TRANSFORMATIONS, New England Wax, Sharon Arts Center, Peterborough, NH, 2014
A MOVEABLE FEAST, Gallery A3 @ Paper City Studios, Holyoke, MA, 2014
THE DIPTYCH PROJECT, New England Wax + FuseChicago, Engine, Biddeford, ME, 2014
BREAKING BOUNDARIES, Fountain Street Gallery, Framingham, MA, 2014
MATERIAL MATTERS, New England Wax, Lewis Gallery, Portland, ME, 2013
3rd ANNUAL NATIONAL JURIED ENCAUSTIC EXHIBITION, Encaustic Art Institute Gallery, Cerrillos, NM, 2013
IEA 2013 INTERNATIONAL JURIED SHOW, Eggman & Walrus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2013
THE MASTERS, presenters’ show, Eldorado Hotel, Santa Fe, NM, 2013
WAXED @ IMA, Island Museum of Art, Friday Harbor, San Juan, WA, 2012
INFLUENCES, The Russell Gallery, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA, 2012
WHIMSY, Sidell Gallery, Lawrence, MA, 2012
7th ANNUAL ENCAUSTIC INVITATIONAL, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ, 2012
POLLINATION: Beyond the Garden, Brush Gallery, Lowell, MA, 2011
SHIFTING, curator/artist with four other artists, Hampden Gallery, UMass Amherst, MA, 2011
KINDRED SPIRITS, Schiltkamp Gallery, Clark University, Worcester, MA, 2011
WAX IN MOTION, Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA, 2011
EDUCATION
Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, B.A., art with honors
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, M.A., sculpture
Additional Studies:
University of California, Berkeley, CA, ceramics with Peter Voulkos
New York University, NY, NY, contemporary art history with Irving Sandler
Smith College, Northampton, MA, printmaking
PRESENTATIONS
• What's the BIG Idea? It's All About You!, University of New England, Portland, ME, 2016
• Analysis.Synthesis: What’s the BIG Idea?, Fountain Street Gallery, Framingham, MA, 2014
• What’s the BIG Idea? Content = Fusion, IEA Conference, Santa Fe, NM, 2013
• 3M=ART: Methods+Materials=Meaning, Island Museum of Art, Friday Harbor, WA, 2012
• Studio Topics, Art Department/Studio Art, Clark University, Worcester, MA, 2010
• Artist’s Talk: Whitfield Lovell, Art Museum, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 2010
• Contexts for Concepts: Artists Interviewed, Gallery A3 Forum, Amherst, MA, 2009
• What’s the BIG Idea? Third National Encaustic Conference, Beverly, MA, 2009
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
• Amherst Art Walk, founder/director, 2002-04, graphic designer and program coordinator 2012-2014
• Curator, Shifting, fine artists working in encaustic, Hampden Galllery, UMass Amherst, 2011
• New England Wax, a founder, honorary member, graphic designer, 2006-2022
• Gallery A3, contemporary fine art, Amherst, MA, a founder, a co-director, graphic designer, 2002-2022
• Burnet Gallery, community gallery in the Jones Library, Amherst, MA, director, 1991-1993
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ENCAUSTIC WORKS 2012, R & F biennial exhibition in print, Joanne Mattera juror, Sue Katz pp 44-46
7th ENCAUSTIC INVITATIONAL, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tuscon, AZ, Sue Katz pp 22-23, 2012
ENCAUSTIC ART, Lissa Rankin, Watson-Guptill, New York, Sue Katz, p 88, 2010
CONSTELLATIONS, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2022
TRANSFORMATION, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2017
CIRCLE.SQUARE, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2014
CONSTRUCTS, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2013
TRANSFORMED, one person, Oresman Gallery, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 2008
OBJECTS FOUND, two person, Arno Maris Gallery, Westfield State College, Westfield, MA, 2008
NEW WORK, one person, A.P.E. Gallery, Northampton, MA, 2005
SPRING, one person, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2004
EMBEDDED, mixed media, two person shows, Windham Art Gallery, Brattleboro, VT, 2000-2001
WINDOWS, one person, Leverett Crafts & Art, Leverett, MA, 1998
MARKERS, one person, Burnett Gallery, Amherst, MA, 1997
ICONS/IDEA IMAGES, one person, Greenfield Community College, Greenfield, MA, 1994
REGENERATION, SHIFTS IN FORM, SHAPES & SCAPES, TEXTURE, QUADRADA, SQUARE ROOTS, SIGNS OF LIFE,
FOUND, TATAMI, two person shows, Gallery A3, 2002-2023
EXHIBITIONS - GROUP SHOWS
RELATIONSHIPS hot/cold/intricate, juried show, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT, 2022
DIPTYCH PROJECT: Transatlantic Fusion, New England & European encaustic artists, The Commons,
Provincetown, MA, June, 2022
WALLS, juried show, New England Wax at Holocaust & Human Rights Center of Maine, Augusta, ME, 2021
LAYERING, juried show, New England Wax at Cotuit Center for the Arts, Cotuit, MA, summer 2021
BRIDGE THROUGH MY WINDOW, Gallery A3, Amherst, MA, 2021
11:11 THE DEPTH, juried show at Fountain Street Fine Art, SOWA, Boston, MA, 2019
FUSION: ENCAUSTIC WORKS, Higgins Gallery, Cape Cod Community College, Baranstable, MA, 2019
BUZZ, group show about bees, Gallery Blink, Lexington, MA, 2017
VISION + VERSE, New England Wax at University of New England Art Gallery, Portland, ME, 2016
LENGTH X WIDTH X DEPTH, 11th Annual Encaustic Invitational, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tuscon, AZ, 2016
BENEATH THE SURFACE, New England Wax, Saco Museum, Saco, ME, 2016
NEW ENGLAND WAX AT GALLERY SEVEN, Maynard, MA, 2015
CHAOS + ORDER, New England Wax, River Tree Arts, Kennebunk, ME, 2015
ART ACROSS THE RIVER, Oxbow Gallery, Northampton, MA, 2015
TRANSFORMATIONS, New England Wax, Sharon Arts Center, Peterborough, NH, 2014
A MOVEABLE FEAST, Gallery A3 @ Paper City Studios, Holyoke, MA, 2014
THE DIPTYCH PROJECT, New England Wax + FuseChicago, Engine, Biddeford, ME, 2014
BREAKING BOUNDARIES, Fountain Street Gallery, Framingham, MA, 2014
MATERIAL MATTERS, New England Wax, Lewis Gallery, Portland, ME, 2013
3rd ANNUAL NATIONAL JURIED ENCAUSTIC EXHIBITION, Encaustic Art Institute Gallery, Cerrillos, NM, 2013
IEA 2013 INTERNATIONAL JURIED SHOW, Eggman & Walrus Gallery, Santa Fe, NM, 2013
THE MASTERS, presenters’ show, Eldorado Hotel, Santa Fe, NM, 2013
WAXED @ IMA, Island Museum of Art, Friday Harbor, San Juan, WA, 2012
INFLUENCES, The Russell Gallery, Deerfield Academy, Deerfield, MA, 2012
WHIMSY, Sidell Gallery, Lawrence, MA, 2012
7th ANNUAL ENCAUSTIC INVITATIONAL, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tucson, AZ, 2012
POLLINATION: Beyond the Garden, Brush Gallery, Lowell, MA, 2011
SHIFTING, curator/artist with four other artists, Hampden Gallery, UMass Amherst, MA, 2011
KINDRED SPIRITS, Schiltkamp Gallery, Clark University, Worcester, MA, 2011
WAX IN MOTION, Bowersock Gallery, Provincetown, MA, 2011
EDUCATION
Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, B.A., art with honors
Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, M.A., sculpture
Additional Studies:
University of California, Berkeley, CA, ceramics with Peter Voulkos
New York University, NY, NY, contemporary art history with Irving Sandler
Smith College, Northampton, MA, printmaking
PRESENTATIONS
• What's the BIG Idea? It's All About You!, University of New England, Portland, ME, 2016
• Analysis.Synthesis: What’s the BIG Idea?, Fountain Street Gallery, Framingham, MA, 2014
• What’s the BIG Idea? Content = Fusion, IEA Conference, Santa Fe, NM, 2013
• 3M=ART: Methods+Materials=Meaning, Island Museum of Art, Friday Harbor, WA, 2012
• Studio Topics, Art Department/Studio Art, Clark University, Worcester, MA, 2010
• Artist’s Talk: Whitfield Lovell, Art Museum, Smith College, Northampton, MA, 2010
• Contexts for Concepts: Artists Interviewed, Gallery A3 Forum, Amherst, MA, 2009
• What’s the BIG Idea? Third National Encaustic Conference, Beverly, MA, 2009
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
• Amherst Art Walk, founder/director, 2002-04, graphic designer and program coordinator 2012-2014
• Curator, Shifting, fine artists working in encaustic, Hampden Galllery, UMass Amherst, 2011
• New England Wax, a founder, honorary member, graphic designer, 2006-2022
• Gallery A3, contemporary fine art, Amherst, MA, a founder, a co-director, graphic designer, 2002-2022
• Burnet Gallery, community gallery in the Jones Library, Amherst, MA, director, 1991-1993
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ENCAUSTIC WORKS 2012, R & F biennial exhibition in print, Joanne Mattera juror, Sue Katz pp 44-46
7th ENCAUSTIC INVITATIONAL, Conrad Wilde Gallery, Tuscon, AZ, Sue Katz pp 22-23, 2012
ENCAUSTIC ART, Lissa Rankin, Watson-Guptill, New York, Sue Katz, p 88, 2010
REVIEWS
SEVENTEEN ARTISTS AND ONE REVOLUTIONARY ART GALLERY
"Through the death of her husband, Sue Katz not only exposed her disparity through art but also inspired artists around her. At Gallery A3, Katz, and three other artists in her cooperative, themed the monthly exhibit around losing a part of her family. Along with Katz, Olivia Bernard, Constance Hamilton, and Evelyn Pye titled their show, “nothing is wasted in nature or in love.” Through sculptures, wax, glass, wood, paint and discarded beach buoys, the artists work together to create a show with variation and depth that symbolizes their business as a whole. Run by 17 local artists, each month showcases a different element of their cooperative."
November 23, 2015 · blog by audrey donohue
CIRCLE • SQUARE 2014
“Everyone collects seashells at the seashore. Sue Katz collects rusty bedsprings at the side of the road. Oh, and bleached bones and antlers, abandoned bird and wasp nest and discarded lengths of rusty rebar. Call it shopping for art supplies...The alchemy that transforms Katz’s treasures into art is a conceptual focus she’s been exploring for a dozen years, working with squares, and more recently adding circles to the mix. One of the talks she gives occasionally at colleges and conferences is titled “What’s the Big Idea in Your Art?” The big idea informing her use of squares and circles is “oneness,” she says, the unity of the human spirit, of the family, of the family of man...”
Bonnie Wells, Art People, Hampshire Life, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/21/2014
Reprinted with permission of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. All rights reserved.
CONSTRUCTS 2013
“You certainly have a great eye for collecting materials and the magic for combining them into new personal images. The use of mixed media adds a rich sensitive surface and color to the work. Congratulations on a very fine show.”
George Wardlaw, former chair, UMass Amherst Art Department, 4/2013
SHIFTING 2011
“Artist Sue Katz always seems to have fun. There is a sense of humor in her work, sometimes devilish even. No matter the mood, what comes through is a childlike sense of wonder and respect of everyday things that seem to have outgrown their usefulness. And so these things – a piece of sheet metal, an old box, and bedsprings – are relegated to the rubbish pile only to be retrieved by Katz for her imaginative constructs.”
Tony Maroulis, Artscope, a New England culture magazine, 11-12/2011
WAXING ARTISTIC 2011
“Hot wax, for this Amherst artist and curator, equals encaustic, a painting technique reaching way back to Roman-era Egypt, with color pigments suspended in molten beeswax . . . Combining found objects with melted wax, Katzturns painting into sculpture, in work that comes off the wall and shifts into the viewer’s space. She imposes geometric structure on an unruly assortment of materials, revealing a fondness, in form for the unraveling curlicue of bed-springs and a preference, in color, for the earth tones of rusted metal, weathered wood, and the warm orange gleam of copper flashing. Her work progresses from small sized depictions . . . to the large-scale openportal of “Through,” freestanding seven feet tall by six feet wide.”
Laura Holland, Preview Massachusetts, Northampton, MA, 10/2011
A DIVA OF DETRITUS 2007
“In October, Katz exhibited a selection of her constructions created from found materials in the show “Found” at Gallery A3 in Amherst...This month [December] she enunciates the other half other artistic equation in the show “Transformed,” on view through Jan. 25 at the Oresman Gallery at Smith College. “Transformed” is a mini-retrospective of Katz’ work . . .”
Bonnie Wells, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA, 12/2007
TWO ARTISTS, TWO ABSTRACT WORLDS 2006
“Katz is also displaying (in addition to her “constructs”) a series of works on paper called the Tatami Series.” Tatami refers to the portable Japanese tatami floor mat where two people can sit or one could lay down. It is this relationship of two to one that has so intrigued and inspired Katz. She feels that it is this exact ratio that “represent our own human nature, to be alone and to connect with others.”
Cheryl Rezendes Rulewich, The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, 10/2006
EXHIBITION ESSAYS 2005
“Sue Katz - New Work features luxuriously colorful and textural wall constructions . . . related formally by their geometric structure and a consistent use of found materials . . . the stuff of her life. Katz finds and uses things that speak directly to her and she incorporates them in her abstractions in ways that reveal her process to be a seamless interplay of life and art. Material, memory, inspiration, and process are for this artist a unified whole.”
Betsy Siersma, former Director of the University Gallery, UMass, Amherst, MA, 9/2005
GALLERY A3 OFFERS REFINED SCULPTURE 2003
“Sue Katz constructs humorous assemblages from found materials, usually industrial and natural objects . . . her subtle celebration of artistic and personal freedom.”
Gloria Russell, Sunday Republican, Springfield, MA, 2/2003
THREE AMHERST ART ALLIANCE MEMBERS TEAM UP ON “WORKS ON PAPER” 2002
“Sue Katz . . . likes to play with ideas . . . Her series at A3 is a material expression of her thinking process, harkening to the 19th century German philosopher Hegel’s formula for the growth and change of ideas, a dialectic.”
Bonnie Wells, Amherst Bulletin, Amherst, MA, 7/2002
ARTISTS’ STYLES COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER 2000
“Susan Katz creates mixed media non-pictorial images. Working with interior themes of a search for self, Katz’s mapping of thoughts and emotions transfers to symbols such as flags, signs, paths, hands, and portals. The strength of this work is that it does influence an internal question necessary in self-reflection and discovery and the success is due to the lack of inhibition with which the artist addresses her materials.“
Jane Tingle Broderick, The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, 9/2000
"Through the death of her husband, Sue Katz not only exposed her disparity through art but also inspired artists around her. At Gallery A3, Katz, and three other artists in her cooperative, themed the monthly exhibit around losing a part of her family. Along with Katz, Olivia Bernard, Constance Hamilton, and Evelyn Pye titled their show, “nothing is wasted in nature or in love.” Through sculptures, wax, glass, wood, paint and discarded beach buoys, the artists work together to create a show with variation and depth that symbolizes their business as a whole. Run by 17 local artists, each month showcases a different element of their cooperative."
November 23, 2015 · blog by audrey donohue
CIRCLE • SQUARE 2014
“Everyone collects seashells at the seashore. Sue Katz collects rusty bedsprings at the side of the road. Oh, and bleached bones and antlers, abandoned bird and wasp nest and discarded lengths of rusty rebar. Call it shopping for art supplies...The alchemy that transforms Katz’s treasures into art is a conceptual focus she’s been exploring for a dozen years, working with squares, and more recently adding circles to the mix. One of the talks she gives occasionally at colleges and conferences is titled “What’s the Big Idea in Your Art?” The big idea informing her use of squares and circles is “oneness,” she says, the unity of the human spirit, of the family, of the family of man...”
Bonnie Wells, Art People, Hampshire Life, the Daily Hampshire Gazette, 3/21/2014
Reprinted with permission of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. All rights reserved.
CONSTRUCTS 2013
“You certainly have a great eye for collecting materials and the magic for combining them into new personal images. The use of mixed media adds a rich sensitive surface and color to the work. Congratulations on a very fine show.”
George Wardlaw, former chair, UMass Amherst Art Department, 4/2013
SHIFTING 2011
“Artist Sue Katz always seems to have fun. There is a sense of humor in her work, sometimes devilish even. No matter the mood, what comes through is a childlike sense of wonder and respect of everyday things that seem to have outgrown their usefulness. And so these things – a piece of sheet metal, an old box, and bedsprings – are relegated to the rubbish pile only to be retrieved by Katz for her imaginative constructs.”
Tony Maroulis, Artscope, a New England culture magazine, 11-12/2011
WAXING ARTISTIC 2011
“Hot wax, for this Amherst artist and curator, equals encaustic, a painting technique reaching way back to Roman-era Egypt, with color pigments suspended in molten beeswax . . . Combining found objects with melted wax, Katzturns painting into sculpture, in work that comes off the wall and shifts into the viewer’s space. She imposes geometric structure on an unruly assortment of materials, revealing a fondness, in form for the unraveling curlicue of bed-springs and a preference, in color, for the earth tones of rusted metal, weathered wood, and the warm orange gleam of copper flashing. Her work progresses from small sized depictions . . . to the large-scale openportal of “Through,” freestanding seven feet tall by six feet wide.”
Laura Holland, Preview Massachusetts, Northampton, MA, 10/2011
A DIVA OF DETRITUS 2007
“In October, Katz exhibited a selection of her constructions created from found materials in the show “Found” at Gallery A3 in Amherst...This month [December] she enunciates the other half other artistic equation in the show “Transformed,” on view through Jan. 25 at the Oresman Gallery at Smith College. “Transformed” is a mini-retrospective of Katz’ work . . .”
Bonnie Wells, Daily Hampshire Gazette, Northampton, MA, 12/2007
TWO ARTISTS, TWO ABSTRACT WORLDS 2006
“Katz is also displaying (in addition to her “constructs”) a series of works on paper called the Tatami Series.” Tatami refers to the portable Japanese tatami floor mat where two people can sit or one could lay down. It is this relationship of two to one that has so intrigued and inspired Katz. She feels that it is this exact ratio that “represent our own human nature, to be alone and to connect with others.”
Cheryl Rezendes Rulewich, The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, 10/2006
EXHIBITION ESSAYS 2005
“Sue Katz - New Work features luxuriously colorful and textural wall constructions . . . related formally by their geometric structure and a consistent use of found materials . . . the stuff of her life. Katz finds and uses things that speak directly to her and she incorporates them in her abstractions in ways that reveal her process to be a seamless interplay of life and art. Material, memory, inspiration, and process are for this artist a unified whole.”
Betsy Siersma, former Director of the University Gallery, UMass, Amherst, MA, 9/2005
GALLERY A3 OFFERS REFINED SCULPTURE 2003
“Sue Katz constructs humorous assemblages from found materials, usually industrial and natural objects . . . her subtle celebration of artistic and personal freedom.”
Gloria Russell, Sunday Republican, Springfield, MA, 2/2003
THREE AMHERST ART ALLIANCE MEMBERS TEAM UP ON “WORKS ON PAPER” 2002
“Sue Katz . . . likes to play with ideas . . . Her series at A3 is a material expression of her thinking process, harkening to the 19th century German philosopher Hegel’s formula for the growth and change of ideas, a dialectic.”
Bonnie Wells, Amherst Bulletin, Amherst, MA, 7/2002
ARTISTS’ STYLES COMPLIMENT EACH OTHER 2000
“Susan Katz creates mixed media non-pictorial images. Working with interior themes of a search for self, Katz’s mapping of thoughts and emotions transfers to symbols such as flags, signs, paths, hands, and portals. The strength of this work is that it does influence an internal question necessary in self-reflection and discovery and the success is due to the lack of inhibition with which the artist addresses her materials.“
Jane Tingle Broderick, The Recorder, Greenfield, MA, 9/2000