Peripheral Visions is an ongoing series of small works that addresses the sensation of moving quickly through the landscape, capturing fragmentary views that vanish in an instant. Susan’s interest is in the ephemeral, attracted to the moments when light changes the mundane into something magical. Always on the lookout for sudden explosions of color brought on by the shifting light when on walks in her neighborhood, many views have become familiar motifs repeated in different seasons and times of day. 

The scale of the work impacts how the images are perceived, as larger paintings invite the viewer to enter the space, and smaller panels evoke movement, echoing Susan’s experiences of moving through the landscape briskly. Working with heavily textured panels, the loose handling of paint contributes to the sensation of immediacy and motion. 

An absence of the figure is deliberate, disallowing any imposition of ‘story’ and leaving the focus entirely on the moment captured and its specific qualities of light, color, and tonal saturation. Intensity in the chromatic range brings to mind the hours when the sun is lowest in the sky. The simplicity of the subject is transformed by the moment of illumination and by our unexpected attention.