SUSAN KIEFER (American, 20th century). Goldenrod, 2020, Oil on canvas. Verso titled, dated and signed. Inventory Ref # N0262
ARTIST PROFILE: Susan Kiefer moved from Kansas City, MO to New York City in July of 2021 to advance her painting career, both by opportunity and inspiration. Born and raised in Kansas City, she lived on the west coast for 30 years, earning her BFA and MFA in Printmaking from the California College of the Arts in San Francisco. One of her woodcut artist books is in the permanent collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and was shown in many East Coast venues. John Zurier was Kiefer's painting mentor, encouraging her interest in abstract oils, which she started showing in the California Bay Area. Returning to Kansas City in 2014 to help care for her parents, she was very active in the KC art scene. She loves the stimulating environment in New York and continues her current geometric abstracts, which are in collections throughout the US.
Making things makes me happy—from paper dolls in childhood to costumes and scenery for my dance group as a young adult to drawing and painting as the activity that has sustained me throughout my life. Themes and subject matter of my artwork have varied over the years as new ideas capture my attention and the seasons of my life are reflected in my work; what has never changed is the need to create. My recent Expressive Geometric Abstract series explores the range of expression obtainable with compositions using primarily geometric shapes. The intrigue of working with a restricted image vocabulary is reflected in a line from Edna St. Vincent Millay: "Euclid alone has looked on beauty bare." This series has morphed into Hard-Edged Geometric Abstracts. The clean lines and simple shapes make these paintings about exploring the fascination of color and color relationships.
