Exhibition Runs: April 26 – June 1, 2023
Reception & Artist Talks: Saturday May 13, 4:30pm – 6:30pm
Artist Talks
We invite you to join us for an exhibition reception and artist talks at Harwood Art Center by Susan Roden & Jamie Rose on Saturday, May 13, 2023 with artist talks starting at 5:00pm. This event is free and open to all ages.
Public Gallery Hours
This exhibition is open to view by the public on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10am-3pm.
Aging . . . A Female’s Perspective
As a multidisciplinary artist, Susan has created a multi-platform installation centralizing upon the female perspective on aging’s physical and emotional impacts. Life’s natural process of aging affects all, yet western culture rarely discusses and the few words spoken are embedded with fallacies. Art transcends words, thus easily initiating dialogues on life’s natural process.
The exhibit consists of three segments, with the first of art dresses. The fabric substrate conceptualizes different biological stages of aging, such as dementia with techniques including hand printing, painting, dying and stitching.
The second component is mixed media tondos addressing ageism’s prejudices. One example is the beauty industry’s exploitation through products erasing visible age.
The final component is a Wall of Words. 13 to 86 year-old females’ personal reflections have been culled in a casual survey from California, Ohio and New Mexico. Anonymous viewpoints of four questions are scribed with attributed ages painted onto a wall.
About Susan
Albuquerque multidisciplinary artist Susan E. Roden, attended the Cleveland Institute of Art and the Houston Art Institute. Her art, painting and sculptures, is exhibited nationally and recipient of awards including Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club’s 1994 Medal of Honor for pastels (NY). She attended residencies at Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park (2009), California’s Desert Dairy Farm (2021, 2022, 2024) and Mission Street Arts, Jemez (2023).
Roden was featured on the Pastel Artist International Magazine (2002) cover with an accompanying article of her technique. She was an artistic collaborator with Albuquerque’s Theatre Aux Dog and playwright Mark Dunn’s production, Diptych (2019), which featured 32 pieces of Roden’s art representing the Daughter / Artist’s character.
She has taught at the UC San Diego Extension, San Diego Museum of Art, New Mexico Art League, and Oasis / Albuquerque and is a juried member with the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club (NY), Distinguished Pastelist and Past President of the Pastel Society of New Mexico.
As a multidisciplinary artist, Susan E Roden’s range of genres and mediums are varied with the commonality of portraying the subtleties of life. Emotion-based art amplifies and touches humanity within a setting through the composed visual elements of movement, shadow and color and with cropped compositions to draw one’s eye into the scene.
Artist Statement
“My current focus is interpretation of female viewpoints on aging and associated prejudices. One utilized substrate within the multi-installation is in the form of a dress, with each conceptualizing aging’s physical traits. As a woman and an artist that has surpassed several milestones of life, I feel enabled to voice reflections of biological processes that supersede all race, creed, gender or monetary status. Art is my vehicle to expose cultural stereotypes in initiating much-needed dialogues. This I wish to expound upon, for extended conversations provide greater insight as well as consolation on aging to all. ” – Susan Roden