Suzanne Styrk
Bristol painter and author Suzanne Stryk presents an illustrated lecture about her artwork and a new book, “The Middle of Somewhere: An Artist Explores the Nature of Virginia,” Sunday, May 21, at 3 p.m. at the Washington Public Library in Abingdon, Virginia.
“There’s no such thing as the middle of nowhere. Everywhere is the middle of somewhere for some living being.” That was the mantra of Suzanne Stryk, a Bristol, Virginia, artist, as she journeyed through the state of Virginia on a mission inspired by the reflective, encyclopedic sensibility of Thomas Jefferson’s book, “Notes on the State of Virginia.”
The result of these efforts was Stryk’s own “Notes on the State of Virginia,” a series of place-based assemblages developed from 2011 to 2013. Stryk’s multimedia collages are composed of the artist’s paintings and drawings, dead bugs, book pages, pressed leaves, rusty farm equipment, animal bones and handwritten directions, all artistically arranged over U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps.
Some pieces explore the land that Jefferson described, while most focus on other places in the state that are ecologically or culturally distinctive. To create the series, Stryk researched and traveled to special regions in Virginia’s Coastal Plain, Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge, and Appalachian Plateau.
Stryk has published a book which captures the essence of her experience traveling and creating her assemblages. While acknowledging the moral contradictions in Jefferson’s work and life, Stryk offers a contemporary interpretation of Virginia’s natural and cultural ecology from a visual artist’s point of view. The book is comprised of essays, artwork and ephemera from her travels.
In a challenge that is universal, Stryk invites us to travel slowly, tread lightly and look closely at each “somewhere” that defines a place. Her personal accounts and conversational tone make readers feel as if they are traveling across Virginia with a friend, one who is at times funny and at other times deeply reflective.
Stryk’s fascination with the natural world and art began in childhood, which she alludes to frequently in the book. Born in Chicago, she has made her home in Bristol for over 30 years, and during that time exhibited her conceptual nature paintings and assemblages in solo exhibitions throughout the United States.
Her art portfolios and related writings have been featured in publications such as Terrain.org, Orion, Ecotone, and the Kenyon Review. She is the recipient of a George Sugarman Foundation grant and a Virginia Commission for the Arts fellowship for her project “Notes on the State of Virginia,” which evolved into “The Middle of Somewhere.”
There will be book sales and signings and a reception following Sickels’ presentation.
The Friends of the Washington County Public Library is a voluntary, non-profit organization whose activities have included raising funds to improve library facilities, taking a firm stand in support of intellectual freedom, sponsoring literary and cultural events and providing financial support for special projects.
For more information on the event, call 276-492-2013.
