I met Susan while making a short film on her and her project that at that time was about soldiers. She has a new show coming up in September that I will surely go see. In the following excerpt from her artist statement she tells us what we can expect.
I am now working on a series of portraits – ink and conté drawings and carved-wood sculptures – of adolescents. My goal is to study the uniqueness of real teenagers as they attempt to define their identities in modern culture. I’m interested in the ways that teens draw from a specific youth-culture vocabulary as they define their identities. They use clothing, hairstyles and accessories to show their political and cultural alliances, and express their personal sense of style. In my drawings and sculptures I try to capture the tiny details of their clothing, their hairstyles and their book bags and backpacks.Photograph above by Karen Mauch. Below sketches from Susan Hagen.
Teenager
September 11-October 17
Reception September 11, 5:30-7:30
Schmidt Dean
1710 Sansome Street
Philadelphia
