“There is a basic human tendency to seek order in the current of experience in which we are constantly swimming. There is a variety of languages (scientific, artistic, and spiritual, as well as ordinary discursive) by which we attempt to organize our worlds, and they frequently borrow from one another–thus the richness of metaphor”.
Susan Chrysler White, 2023
Chrysler White’s paintings are constructed by accumulating layers of acrylic and enamel paint on transparent glassine paper. The artist cuts and tears these laminations of glassine and collage them onto canvas. The paintings are not preconceived compositions. Her process is inherently messy, paint is dripped and poured and laid out to dry throughout the studio–and then she begins the process of collecting and arranging the fragments to form a visual narrative. The individual elements can appear at first glance to be mechanically generated, she is interested in the tension between appearance, and process in the work.
Chrysler White mines personal resources accumulated by living in different cultures for a large part of her life. The artist grew up in Spain with ornate Arabic filigree in her home and the city around her, worked in India, founded an embroidery collective in Mexico, and taught in Rome with regular access to the Vatican Museum. In these cultures, as well as our own, she is drawn to the incredible range of visual form employed in the way people organize everyday objects in and around their homes to express some ritualistic meaning whether it be an altar, an artist’s studio, a home, or a garden. It somehow speaks to our human condition and our recognition of ourselves.