Susan Carr American

As a lifelong learner, Susan Carr uses archetypes, metaphors, history, naivety and psychological ideas when pursuing and focusing on her work. These motifs act as springboards for further investigation through various mediums and materials. For Susan, art is the totality of life, and that humility and love are crucial ingredients to making work. Being a mother has been an indispensable and a vital part of her life and art practice, and she has found great joy and inspiration in the strength of her familial relationships. Carr often depicts children or child-like imagery in her work, noting: “I like the idea of happy children perhaps because I am painting a new history for myself, a history where smiling comes easy.” Another reoccurring symbol in Carr’s work is the eye, which she began painting after the death of her son as a means to communicate with him: “Some say the circle represents totality, wholeness, eternity, timelessness and perfection. I like to think that all of those meanings can be found within the eye.”

In 1994 Susan Carr earned her BFA from The School of The Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University in Boston, MA. After winning the prestigious Fifth year “Traveling Scholars Award,” she returned in 2003 to earn her MFA in video and photography. Susan works in many mediums including sculpture, painting, the written word and photography. She recently published a small memoir in 2019 called “Tensions” of prose, poetry, photography and paintings. Her work has been exhibited throughout the United States and is featured in public collections including Falmouth Hospital in Boston, MA. She has been awarded two career development grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council as well as grants from The Davenport Company. Carr currently lives and works in Cape Cod, MA.