Susan Tabachnick never thought of herself as an artist. She can’t draw or paint. But in 2007 things changed. First she was diagnosed with a chronic illness. She sold her house and moved into a small apartment. Then she lost her job. Susan describes it as the best year ever.
Susan left behind a stressful job and the responsibilities of owning an historic home. Instead, she suddenly had the time to discover what she wanted to do and found herself collecting industrial objects that interested her, beginning the start of a rich period of creativity.
It all began when she found a round, metal object on the ground -- brought it home and put it on the windowsill above the kitchen sink. Next she acquired a copper toilet float which nestled perfectly on the other item. Susan had no idea what she was doing, yet the practice of collecting items and assembling them grew into the Lost and Found Circus, a 40-plus piece collection of small sculptures which was of interest to the historic Barnum Museum in Bridgeport, CT and shown there in 2014.
Susan is self-taught.
Education
B.S. Southern Connecticut State College, New Haven, CT
Private lessons with master weaver Lucille Landis
StatementI learned to embroider when I was a little girl. Later came sewing, knitting, crocheting, and weaving. Textile arts taught me to appreciate the finest details – the importance of the beauty of both sides. Being a perfectionist was a curse.
I make things out of found objects. I’m attracted to things that are well crafted, once essential with a specific purpose. I believe that everything has a history. I like searching through decades of basement detritus, often indescribable junk presenting itself at its most vulnerable -- filthy, rusty, broken and misshapen -- perhaps the last stop before the trash. I may not know what an object is, but it brings a patina, a fingerprint of its past life to my worktable. When the histories of these objects are joined, an unexpected piece of work appears.
Working with objects is a process. I’m first drawn to a piece, then search for something else that might work, then another and another. I sometimes explore options to a point of overload, where a decision waits for clarity, or not at all. I feel it in my stomach. When it’s right, it’s right. And when it isn’t, it’s not.
A few years ago a friend called asking me if I would be interested in some of her dad’s old engineering tools. He had passed away forty-plus years ago and the family didn’t know what to do with them. I jumped at the chance. The tools were beautiful. Calipers, compasses, protractors, slide rules. It was joyous work and the beginning of an internal conversation about legacy. What are the tools? What were they used for? My work continues to be influenced by these questions.
stabachnick416@gmail.com
CvSolo Exhibitions
2020: Artifacts, DaSilva Gallery, New Haven, CT
2019: A Pop of Color, Downtown Special Services District, Bridgeport, CT
2019: Artifacts, River Road Gallery, Wilton, CT
2015: Assemblages, Pious Bird of Good Omen, Bridgeport, CT
2015: Music - Art - Nature, Treetops Chamber Music Society, Stamford, CT
2014: The Lost & Found Circus: A Creative Balancing Act, The Barnum Museum, Bridgeport, CT
2012: Stuff, Pious Bird of Good Omen, Fairfield, CT
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Group Exhibitions
2024: Object Memory, Crown Gallery, Metro Art Studios, Bridgeport, CT
2021: 77th Annual Connecticut Artists Juried Exhibition, Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, CT
2020: USPS Art Project, InLiquid, Philadelphia, PA
2020: USPS Art Project, Eli Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2020: Small is the New Big, Honorable Mention, Rene Soto Gallery, Norwalk, CT
2019: SAMESEX, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2017: 305: Revitalized, 305 Knowlton, Bridgeport, CT
2016: Lost + Found, 2016 Annual Exhibition, LAA, Stamford, CT. Juror: Larissa Bailiff, MOMA, NYC
2016: Parts is Parts: Assemblage & Collage, The Schelfhaudt Gallery, University of Bridgeport, CT
2015: On and Off the Wall, M.A.W. Fairfield Group Show, Fairfield Theatre Company, Fairfield, CT
2015: West Cove Gallery, West Haven, CT
2011: Grand Opening, City Lights West, Westport, CT
2010: Recycled, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2010: Recycled, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2010: Recycled, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2009: 4th Annual Members’ Show, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2009: This + That, Art of Collage, Assemblage & Found Objects, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
StateCT
CountryUSA
