I am drawn to sewing. I like needles and colored threads, small work and tiny stitches... lap work. Some call it piecework. I call it peacework. Recently, I spent some time looking at quilts and especially crazy quilts. I admired the controlled randomness of the construction and the fact that they were usually made of remnants. The idea of using things that are left over, the bits that remain after something is made, has a strong appeal. Pieces of memory making new memories. My studio holds thousands of small scraps of paper that I’ve collected over the years. I have drawers full of drawings, sketches, watercolors done over many years. Why not make my own paper quilts? Out came the glue and scissors and all the pieces of color, including the old paintings. It challenges me to cut up something that came before in order to create something completely new. But, I have to say, it felt good to use my “past” and incorporate it in my “now”. Working on these collages kept me very much in the moment. And I felt such freedom.
“The great lesson from the mystics is that the sacred is in the ordinary, that it is found in one’s daily life, in one’s backyard.” -Abraham Maslow
I’ll add “and on the studio floor.”
Susie Phillips, March 2014
Exhibitions:
Lapwork: Pandemic Stitching Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2021
The Language of Fiber Art Kelso Art Center, University of Incarnate Word San Antonio, TX 2021
Intersections Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2019
To There & Back Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2016
30th Anniversary Show Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2014
Still Crazy Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2013
Crazy Work Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2010
Seed Blossom Fruit Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2007
Slightly Ajar Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2006
Not Such a Still Life Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2004
Travels Abroad Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 2001
1998 Stories Told and Untold Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX
Brookhaven College Forum Gallery Dallas, TX 1997
Conduit Gallery, Dallas, TX 1995
Big Drawings, Small Paintings Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 1991
D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1988
D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1986
D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1984
D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1982
D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1979
Group Exhibitions:
Winners of the 44th Invitational Longview Museum of Fine Arts Longview, TX 2007
Shared Visions: Texas Artists Then and Now, Curated by Paul R. Harris Arlington Museum of Art, Galveston Art Center, Art Museum of the Southwest Beaumont, TX 2006
Invitational Exhibit Longview Museum of Fine Arts Longview, TX 2006
Depart/Return Meadows Museum of Art Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 2000
Palette ’99 Celebration of the Arts Cain Center, Athens, “Six Ways of Seeing” University Art Gallery, Fain Fine Art Center Midwestern State University Wichita Falls, TX 1999
Registered California Museum of Art Luther Burbank Center Santa Rosa, CA 1997
Made in Texas Parchman Stremmel Galleries San Antonio, TX 1995
New Work Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 1994
Group Exhibition Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 1993
National Arts Club New York, NY One of 15 artists chosen nationally to be featured on “Bravo”, Cultural Arts Network, through 1992 1992
A Woman’s Place is in the Art Bar Art Bar, Dallas, TX 1990
Lone Star Art Emporia State University Emporia, KS 1990
Conduit Artists: Work on Paper Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 1990
Ad-Infinitum University of Texas at Dallas Dallas, TX 1989
Two-Person Show Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 1989
The Zoo Show Trammel Crow Center Dallas, TX 1988
Group Exhibitions Rotan-Mosle Dallas, TX 1988
Self-Portrait Conduit Gallery Dallas, TX 1988
19th Annual Prints, Photography and Drawings Arkansas Art Center Little Rock, AR 1987
The Flower and Garden Show D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1987
Art in the Metroplex Texas Christian University Fort Worth, TX 1986
Southwest 85 Museum of Fine Arts Santa Fe, NM 1985
10th Anniversary Exhibition D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1985
The Crescent Collection Exhibition I The Crescent Center Dallas, TX 1984
Group Show D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1984
Four State Survey Santa Fe Festival of the Arts Santa Fe, NM 1983
Art from Dallas Galleries Caltex House Irving, TX 1983
Art Museum of South Texas (Merit Award) Corpus Christi, TX 1983
Austin Contemporary Exhibition Austin, TX 1982
Women-In-Sight: New Art in Texas Brookhaven College Dallas, TX 1981
Chautaugua National (Chautaugua Art Association Award, Eric Gray Memorial Purchase Selection) Chautaugua, NY 1981
Landscape Invitational D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1979
Dallas Art 79 City Hall Dallas, TX 1979
Gift Wrap D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1979
Women-In-Sight: New Art in Texas Austin, TX 1979
Channel 13 Gallery KERA Public Television Dallas, TX 1978
Works on Paper: Southwest 1978 Dallas Museum of Art Dallas, TX 1978
Trees Invitational D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1978
Two Person Show D.W. Gallery Dallas, TX 1977
Collections:
American Airlines Dallas, TX
Southwestern Bell San Antonio, TX
A.T. & T. Dallas, TX
Chautaugua Art Association Chautaugua, NY
Crescent Collection Dallas, TX
Fulbright & Jaworski Dallas, TX
Tishman/Speyer New York, NY
Methodist Medical Center Dallas, TX
G.T.E. Irving, TX
Belo Corporation Washington, D.C.
Delta Airlines Dallas, TX
LaSamanna Hotel (Rosewood Hotels) St. Martins
Rose Hall Wyndham Hotel Jamaica
Safeco Corporation Dallas, TX
Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX
Neiman Marcus Dallas, TX
Bibliography:
Amy Durham: LUXE, “Art in Balance”
Charles Dee Mitchell: Dallas Morning News Wall to Wall Party
Charles Dee Mitchell: Dallas Morning News Shaking Up The Still Life
Janet Kutner: Dallas Morning News Phillips’ Still Lifes Run Deeper
Charles Dee Mitchell: Dallas Morning News Off-the-Wall Art: Playful, Sly and Seductive
Janet Kutner: Dallas Morning News Susie Phillips’ Ripe Images
Ann Jarmusch: Dallas Times Herald Brault and Phillips at Conduit
Janet Kutner: Dallas Morning News Pushing the Limits - Methodically
Janet Kutner: Dallas Morning News Art in the Metroplex Top Quality
Susan Freudenheim: Texas Homes Objects of Affection
Bill Marvel: Dallas Times Herald Painter, Sculptor Bring the Ordinary to Life