Past Exhibitions
Zig Zag,
Three Women Exhibition, 2021, Gallery 114, Portland OR
For the month of September, Gallery 114 presents “Zig Zag,” a show of paintings by gallery artist Joanie Krug, along with sculpture by guest artist Sue Friesz and paintings by guest artist Kay Danley.
Showing as a guest at Gallery 114 is multidisciplinary artist Sue Friesz, who currently maintains a studio in Newport, Oregon. She spent the latter 1990s living in Paraguay, Brazil, and Egypt, and holds bachelor's and master's degrees in art, the latter from University of Central Missouri. She has won grants from the Avenue of the Arts Foundation and Public Arts Commission in Kansas City, Missouri, and a fellowship from the Edwin Austin Abbey Memorial Fund at the National Academy of Design in New York City.
In her sculptural work, Friesz draws from pulse and movement she observes in her surroundings. She remarks on the quietness of a wooded area, how it filters out the sounds of our everyday life: "One set of systems replaces another. Streets and traffic give way to plants, trees, and vines. In them I find distinctive rhythms and patterns to use in my work." The patterns and rhythms begin to surface out of elements she sees--as with plant life when wind bends leaves in the same direction, seedpods form clusters, or branches grow at the same angle.
Nature Reconstructed,
Solo Exhibition, 2017, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR
I chose Nature Reconstructed for the title of my show, not only for my love of nature and the environment but because I use plants as the vehicle for the composition of my drawings, paintings, and sculpture. Whether the drawings are on paper or canvas they rendered from a single graphite line woven, looped, and knotted on the surface of the picture plane in quick fashion. Those shapes are recreated from the patterns, rhythms, and movement I observe as I draw.
Plant Structures,
Solo Exhibition, 2010, University of Missouri Kansas City Gallery of Art, Kansas City, MO
Friesz’s current body of work draws on a strong respect and concern for nature as well as her never-ending fascination with how it works. This exhibition focuses on native plants and their seemingly simple, yet complex growth systems. She describes her process as “finding elegance in the simple lines and shapes derived from each plant” The exhibited painting, prints, and sculptures deconstruct Friesz’s observations of nature and reassembles these observations somewhere between abstraction and realism.