Susan Chorpenning is an artist known for her installations and works on paper showcasing light and visual phenomena. Her work has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, Germany, San Francisco and Marfa, TX.
Main influences include the California light, and her longtime meditation practice, as well as years spent in New York. Chorpenning’s theory has been that an artist can make work anywhere, as she has proved in artists’ residencies (Chinati, Wiesbaden, Omi, Joshua Tree Highlands) and multiple on-site installations in Europe, NY and CA. She now works in a studio in Altadena, nestled into the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, using reflective paint, light, and whatever comes to hand.
About the Work: In the Paper Light pieces, you see paint on paper, glued to canvas. These rows of painted paper extend out from the canvas and change tone as the viewer, and the light, move. The delicate, shimmering color appears and disappears as the viewer moves, fugitive, like the movement of the daylight. Sublime for a moment.
Drawing, as in the 200 Drawings series, is a visceral activity. These are made with oilstick, often working in layers, scraping off one layer to expose what was underneath, similar to the work with layers of light. These drawings may be grouped, with one set of colors or movements dominant, or opposite each other, or they may be shown individually.