Georgia Suter Discusses Cover Art & North Fork Art Collective

Georgia Suter discusses her first Dan’s Papers North Fork cover painting, her current and upcoming shows and more.

A Conversation with Georgia Suter

Tell me about your inspiration for this painting. Does it represent a real place? Who do you imagine these figures to be?

“Swimmers” is an imagined setting. In this instance, this land and river could be anywhere at any time. Most of my work is about human relationships, so I usually have two figures or more in some sort of scenario. This painting is about feelings of separation, distance or conflict in a romantic relationship — “a river ran through us” kind of feeling. But, there is hope in the possibility of crossing the river, meeting half-way or swimming it out. It’s a river, not a wall! The light coming down and illuminating the figures represents this hope.

What made you move from studying journalism at NYU to painting at the Arts Student League in NYC?

I’ve always loved writing and painting and think they are similar… in both cases you have a palette — a range of words or a range of colors, and you can build something. I started becoming aware of how writing kept me inside of my head, and painting brought me more outside of my head. I still love writing, but I like how painting brings me outside of my head in a way that makes me feel grounded and connected to the physical world.

Many of your paintings, like this one, have a sort of bold impasto. Is this something developed over time, or is it something that came naturally to you as a painter?

Oh, thank you. That’s a huge compliment because it’s something that I find difficult to create and have definitely worked to develop. I would say that I don’t always manage to capture that “impasto” feeling —  where the texture and movement of the paint creates an emotional intensity. But in this painting I really felt like I found it in the sky. It’s like there is a confidence in the brushstrokes which you can feel were painted more rapidly without too much forethought or planning. And that’s exactly what happened — I didn’t overthink it.

Your painting is currently on view in the North Fork Art Collective’s 100 East End Artists: 1 Year Anniversary Show. Can you tell me about the show, your involvement with the collective and your experiences with this group?

Kara Hoblin has created an incredibly vibrant and supportive artist community through the North Fork Art Collective. This particular show celebrates one year since the launch of the collective and includes work by every artist who has ever participated — including a few new artists! By bringing North Fork and South Fork artists together, Kara has built a bridge between our communities and we are all stronger for it. I feel grateful to be part of the inclusive community that she has built. It really feels like a place for artists to collaborate and grow together. The 1 Year Anniversary Show is open until February 28 and I’m excited to be a part of the Collective’s upcoming show, Celestial Bodies, opening March 7!

A lot of your paintings and your excellent black and white drawings feel quite psychologically poignant. Do you plan your scenes or do you find the imagery through the process of painting?

I mostly paint and draw from my imagination but I’ll have a loose concept in mind. Usually the concept involves a scenario with two or more people engaged in an activity. I like to paint people as little silhouettes to take away personal characteristics so the scenario feels more abstract and metaphorical. I mostly explore the different ways we come together as social creatures, so I paint a lot of quotidian activities (having dinner, sleeping, dancing, playing a sport), and then from there a feeling usually arises from the social dynamic — intimacy or anonymity, isolation or connection, feeling alone or feeling together.

As I said, there’s a lot of interesting interactions (and lack of interaction) in your scenes. Do you set out for a certain meaning, or is it a matter of recognizing the meaning after you’ve painted each picture? Or is it left to viewer interpretation?

Yes, the meaning usually arises after I paint the scenario! I don’t always know the feeling that is going to emerge but sometimes I’ll have an idea. But it’s interesting how, when you paint out a social situation, that feeling becomes more evident. Like a restaurant in New York City full of people eating — everyone is sitting tightly together like sardines, but there isn’t always a lot of connection happening, and when you paint out each individual as a silhouette that feeling of loneliness is amplified. As social creatures, I think we find the most meaning in connection with others and sense of belonging, through painting I’m always trying to figure out what leads us there and what that looks like.

Where can people find your work beyond the current North Fork Art Collective show?

I have more work at georgianile.com and on Instagram at @georgiansuter. Along with being part of the Celestial Bodies show, I’ll be exhibiting new paintings at The Southampton Arts Center for East End Collected 8, curated by Paton Miller and Christina Strassfield. The show opens February 1 and will be up through May 4.