STATEMENT

My paintings tell the stories of an imaginary tribe of women, deeply intertwined with nature and the animals that share the land with them, especially birds.

They are usually large oil on canvases that I build in layers, in a manner that is grounded on the tradition of painting from observation but that has evolved into a personal technique that leads me in the direction of the disruptive realism I am trying to achieve.

My imagery comes to me mysteriously and effortlessly as if channeled from a land that actually exists and where I have been finding a familiar sense of quietness and protection since I was a child: painting for me is both an exploration of this inner sanctuary and an intimate point of connection with the viewer.

BIO

Originally from Brazil, Suzanna holds a Bachelor's degree in Communications and worked as a copywriter in the advertising industry for ten years until shifting careers in 2001, when she moved to New York City to pursue her lifelong interest in painting. There, she was accepted at the New York Studio School as a full-time student and also took various classes at The School of Visual Arts, The New York Art Students League, and Parsons The New School of Design, curating her own education and thriving on the city’s intense creative energy before returning to Brazil two years later. In 2015, she was accepted to the Alex Kanevsky workshop in Madrid, which became a vital part of her artistic formation, before relocating to the U.S. in 2018, settling in Darien, Connecticut, with her small family. Since then, she has been accepted as a Guild Member of the Silvermine Art Center in New Canaan in 2019, received the prestigious Mercedes Matter Prize from her alma mater in both 2020 and 2022, and has been showing her work in various exhibitions in both Connecticut and New York City.

INITIATIVES

In 2015 Suzanna was selected for the coveted Alex Kanevsky painting workshop in Madrid, Spain. Without the funds for the trip, but unable to pass the opportunity to learn from an artist who had always been an important influence on her, she created a crowdfunding project that not only got her to Madrid, but turned out to be a life changing adventure in and of itself.

Inspired by that experience, a few years later she conceived and launched her innovative membership program on Patreon, where a group of collectors and supporters fund the very work they intend to buy in exchange of special benefits and discounts.

SELECTED SHOWS

2024 Fluid Realities, Crown Gallery, Bridgeport, CT – group show

2024 Women Artists Show, Dacia Gallery, New York, NY – group show

2022 All Things Being, Crown Gallery, Bridgeport CT – group show

2021 Mercedes Matter Awards Show, Margalit Startup City, NYC – group show

2021 Mostraí, Brazilian Embassy, NYC – group show

2021 Girls, Birds and Women, New Haven Lawn Club, New Haven CT – solo show

2020 Mercedes Matter Awards Show, Margalit Startup City, NYC – group show

2020 About Women, The Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk, CT - group show

2019 New Members Show, Silvermine Art Center, New Canaan, CT – group show

2018 Até Aqui, Galeria de Arte Brasileira, São Paulo, Brasil – solo show

2018 Faces and Figure, Stamford Art Association, Stamford, CT – group show

2012 Grupo Parede, Museu Parque das Ruinas, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – group show

2010 Grupo Parede, Centro Cultural Correios, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – group show

EDUCATION:

Long Pose Drawing and Painting with Evan Kitson, New York Academy of Art - 2024

Painting Workshop with Alex Kanevsky, ES Paint - Madrid, Spain - 2015

Painting Certificate Program, New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, NYC  2001 / 2002

Printmaking, School of Visual Arts, NYC - 2002

Illustration – School of Visual Arts, NYC - 2002

Anatomy for Artists – New York Art Student League, NYC - 2001

Portraiture in Pastel – New York Art Student League, NYC - 2001

Figure Drawing from Life – New York Art Student League, NYC - 2001 / 2002

Graphic Design – Parsons The New School of Design, NYC - 2001

Advertising & Communications – Bachelor’s, Universidade Helio Alonso, Rio de Janeiro, BR, 1992

HONOR AND AWARDS

2021 Mercedes Matter Award, NYC

2020 Mercedes Matter Award, NYC

2019 Selected as guild member, Silvermine Art Center, New Canaan, CT.

2002 Scholarship, New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture