“Stories of Rural Dislocation and Disturbance” by Susan Hoffer

Oil on cradled wood

Reception on Friday, May 13 | 5:00-7:00 PM

ARTIST STATEMENT

In the rural area where I live, there is a divisive cost that comes from the struggle for wider scope and inclusivity. These are the stories of ordinary people, with frayed cuffs and halos of light, non-traditional alignments of the pedestrian and the sublime. Collaborating with my neighbors, family, and friends, I mine conversations of dislocation and disturbance, ultimately giving voice to personal narratives that resist forces that aim to homogenize identity. I am interested in subtle shifts of consciousness.

ABOUT THE ARTIST

SUSAN HOFFER became acquainted with personal stories as a child, listening to her grandmother talk about growing up in Gottscheer, in what is now Slovenia, and being forced to leave. Her interest in dislocation of people grew from these conversations as she realized that the event doesn’t matter, what matters is the human cost. While her work recalls and interrogates narrative images that have been around for centuries, they are crafted with a contemporary aesthetic. Her paintings are a rough draft of history.

Hoffer has an MFA in Fine Arts from Johnson State College, and teaches part-time at North Country Community College.  She maintains a studio in Upper Jay, NY.