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Read Cronin Interview - 'diving comedy' exhibition June 2005.pdf
Susan Read Cronin was educated at Williams College (Class of 1975) where she developed her passion for art and design. Cronin worked in the 1990's with renowned sculptors Jane B. Armstrong and Walter Matia. She quickly developed the craft and tradition of working in bronze. She currently works in her home studio in Vermont, and has her pieces cast in bronze in foundries located in Vermont and Massachusetts. Susan Read Cronin's traveling show entitled Fables, Foibles and Fairytales has traveled to eighteen museums around the country. She has had solo shows of her work at the Harrison Gallery in 2005 and upcoming in 2007, Southern Vermont Arts Center, The Carving Studio & Sculpture Center in Rutland, Vermont, and recently at The Williams Club in New York City. Her work has also been featured at the prestigious Copley Society of Boston, where she is a Copley Artist member, and in group shows at the National Sculpture Society based in New York City. Susan Read Cronin's work is held in numerous private collections and public collections including The Erie Art Museum, Erie, Pennsylvania, Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, Vermont and The Madeira School in McLean, Virginia. She serves on the Board of the Vermont Studio Center.
Of Cronin's work, New York art critic John Mendelsohn writes: "Cronin's figures are animated by a fluid energy, the artist's light touch, that gives them a fleeting sense of movement. These animals and humans are acutely observed and deftly depicted, with an emphasis on bodily gestures. The humor which pervades Cronin's work arises from her clearly observing humankind's foibles and then reflecting them back to us with wit and affection." Indeed Cronin's work effuses a liveliness created through her talent for sculptural naturalism and her smart sense of humor.
Artist's Statement:
Many of my sculptures are narratives. Often acting as my own model, I get inside the energy of the animal, person, or even vegetable I am working on. I feel the elation of having just won something big (Jack Pot)or what it's like to be a turtle galumphing along (Giddy up!). I know about being a carrot in love (I Will Always Love You)...or fencing with myself in the mirror (Touche).
A sculpture's story can evolve when I create a relationship between the animate (monkey) and the inanimate (banana peel), as in Soul Mate. "Why," you may ask, "is that monkey wearing a banana peel on its head?" I've asked that question myself. The story can be whatever the viewer (myself included) wants to be. Titles set the stage and give an indication of what might be happening. Picking the right title for a piece is one of the bigger challenges I face, as I find that a title can be limiting or conversely edifying.
Capturing the emotion or spirit of what I'm making is more important to me than being anatomically correct. I work fast. On occasion, I will have to stop what I am working on in order to "pull" out something I glimpse in my clay pile. With intense focus, I try to capture it as quickly as possible, before it gets away. I can also have unplanned things emerge form a piece itself while I work on it. I see these unexpected "visions" as opportunities for adventures; to fallow where they will ultimately lead me.
All of this is only part of the real story.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2005 The Carving Studio and sculpture Center, West Rutland, VT
2005 Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
2005Louisana Arts and Science Museum, Baton Rouge, LA
2005 Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida, Panama City, FL
2004 Gaston County Museum of Art, Dallas, NC
2004 Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, GA
2004 Jesse Besser Museum, Alpena, MI
2003 Oglebay Institute's Stifle Fine Arts Center, Wheeling, WV
2003 The Maderia School, Lives and Legacies, McLean, VA
2003 Paine Art Center and Arboretum, Oshkosh, WI
2003 The Red Mill Gallery, Johnson, VT
2003 Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, TN
2003 Ellen Noel Art Museum, University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa, TX
2002 Frog Hollow State Craft Center, Manchester, VT
2002 Chaffee Center for Visual Arts, Rutland, VT
2002 The Baum Gallery of Fine Arts, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
2000 Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT
Of Cronin's work, New York art critic John Mendelsohn writes: "Cronin's figures are animated by a fluid energy, the artist's light touch, that gives them a fleeting sense of movement. These animals and humans are acutely observed and deftly depicted, with an emphasis on bodily gestures. The humor which pervades Cronin's work arises from her clearly observing humankind's foibles and then reflecting them back to us with wit and affection." Indeed Cronin's work effuses a liveliness created through her talent for sculptural naturalism and her smart sense of humor.
Artist's Statement:
Many of my sculptures are narratives. Often acting as my own model, I get inside the energy of the animal, person, or even vegetable I am working on. I feel the elation of having just won something big (Jack Pot)or what it's like to be a turtle galumphing along (Giddy up!). I know about being a carrot in love (I Will Always Love You)...or fencing with myself in the mirror (Touche).
A sculpture's story can evolve when I create a relationship between the animate (monkey) and the inanimate (banana peel), as in Soul Mate. "Why," you may ask, "is that monkey wearing a banana peel on its head?" I've asked that question myself. The story can be whatever the viewer (myself included) wants to be. Titles set the stage and give an indication of what might be happening. Picking the right title for a piece is one of the bigger challenges I face, as I find that a title can be limiting or conversely edifying.
Capturing the emotion or spirit of what I'm making is more important to me than being anatomically correct. I work fast. On occasion, I will have to stop what I am working on in order to "pull" out something I glimpse in my clay pile. With intense focus, I try to capture it as quickly as possible, before it gets away. I can also have unplanned things emerge form a piece itself while I work on it. I see these unexpected "visions" as opportunities for adventures; to fallow where they will ultimately lead me.
All of this is only part of the real story.
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2005 The Carving Studio and sculpture Center, West Rutland, VT
2005 Erie Art Museum, Erie, PA
2005Louisana Arts and Science Museum, Baton Rouge, LA
2005 Visual Arts Center of Northwest Florida, Panama City, FL
2004 Gaston County Museum of Art, Dallas, NC
2004 Hudgens Center for the Arts, Duluth, GA
2004 Jesse Besser Museum, Alpena, MI
2003 Oglebay Institute's Stifle Fine Arts Center, Wheeling, WV
2003 The Maderia School, Lives and Legacies, McLean, VA
2003 Paine Art Center and Arboretum, Oshkosh, WI
2003 The Red Mill Gallery, Johnson, VT
2003 Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, TN
2003 Ellen Noel Art Museum, University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa, TX
2002 Frog Hollow State Craft Center, Manchester, VT
2002 Chaffee Center for Visual Arts, Rutland, VT
2002 The Baum Gallery of Fine Arts, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
2000 Southern Vermont Arts Center, Manchester, VT