SuzanneWyss

These GFRC cast concrete sculptures were designed in combination with their pathway. Turning this industrial material into organic form, the concrete growths live in a concrete jungle. A winding path intertwines with the outcropping of reaching sculptures, meandering between warehouses in the Springdale General creative business development.

I designed, fabricated and installed these sculptures with the help of my amazing team comprised of Ilya Tinker and Michael Hart. This opportunity was through Co-Lab Projects and City of Austin Management Group.

The concept of Little Picchu, an interactive sculpture, is inspired by the idea of travel in the age of Covid. We wanted to bring the feeling of travel to Austin, without the travel. This 1:60 scale sculpture is modeled off Huayna Picchu, the mountains where Machu Picchu sits in Peru. Constructed out of steel and acrylic, this mountain scape is meant to be both a discovery and a destination.

This piece was a delighful collaboration between Ilya Tinker and myself and was a part of TEMPO 2021 through the Austin TX AIPP program.

Two pieces are in this collection, the first is from 2021 and is pink.

This piece is the sketch of something much greater. Inspired by the fur whorls on my dog Poppet, this flow and movement feels connected to natural growths of all shapes and sizes. This installation is constructed with repurposed Extruded Polystirene that I saved from the landfill. I lovingly carved and developed an installation technique allowing them to flow through the gallery in this way.

The second is from 2010

With spikes ranging from 2" to 8', this installation is the glorification of growths that might be harmful to humans but still beautiful in their own way. An infiltration of space, like mold on the bathroom ceiling.

Extruded polystyrene, wood, paint.

This meandering beehive is inspired by a once flourishing hive found in the ATX greenbelt.
Dank Honey explores possibilities of the curiously changing environment we find ourselves in today.

Facebook Artist in Residence Program, 2017, Austin TX

photography by Anna Mazurek

Too much of a good thing.

VHS tape, swing.

Through repetition, growth and change, we build new pieces of ourselves.

This show consisted of 4 steel structures each paired with a motor hanging above it. Cones of thread are the medium in which these machines use to grow. The cone thread ends are fed through various routes in the steel forms to create tension. The threads meet at the motor where it slowly twists them into one, over the course of a few hours a plant like growth is formed, having gone through an entire life cycle of swaarm.

SWAARMS was a solo show at Dimension Gallery in ATX as part of the 2018-2020 fellowship program

2019

5' x 15' x 4'

Re-purposed industrial cardboard tubes, glue, latex paint.

Currently resides at the Thinkery in Austin, TX

Photography by Sophie Goodwin and James Reed

Searching for uncommon materials in common places, I hunt out lush textures, repetition, and organic movement, while reusing or recycling whenever possible. The hundreds of VHS tapes that make up this forest jungle are enough movies to totally get lost in.

I find we have become desensitized by watching nature be destroyed in order to make more human things. For this installation I reused about 1000 VHS tapes and transformed them into a jungle full of human history that is totally unattainable. If we don't take care of earths nature, will human history even matter?

Photography by Patrick Hagenow

This is a line drawing in steel of the Black Elk Peak area in South Dakota.

Commission, Steel

2015

5ft x 4ft

Photo by Holly Bronko

Steel.

Roof of Shared Heritage Gallery

Indianapolis, IN

12’ x 3’ x 8’

Latex castings of 100 year old building, fabric, dirt, wood, lighting elements.

Wearable Sculpture

Constructed in a hotel room in Osaka, Japan.

Felt, sumi ink, toothpicks, chopsticks

2011

Performance video here.