Through the observation of form, color and growth in the natural world dynamic movements are revealed. All that is presented within the landscape reveals a multitude of ordered and ever changing relationships, synthesized in a mix of plant life and geography that form the visual language in my work. Bound together all these impressions coalesce in an energetic story and the idea of a new environment, not prescribed to an exact location, but have within them a sense of place.Both in the garden and foraging the landscape for plant based color brings the natural world realities into direct expression. Painting in oils, fiber assemblage, works on paper and botanical pigment extractions are my primary mediums.Through my work I offer an interpretation of my experience with the landscape, not a direct rendering but a process of reading and decoding rooted in observation that speaks to our relationship with the land we call home.Susan Mania is an American contemporary artist. Her paintings and works on paper explore observations of the landscape and its changing dynamics in soft dimensional color and a flexible re-working of organic elements.
Mania attended the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City (AAA) where she was exposed to the world of fiber as a medium for fine art. Her study of natural dyes helps her form a connection with nature, creating paints, inks and collage materials. Following FIT, she attended the College of New Jersey (BFA) and Philadelphia College of Textiles and Sciences (MA program).
Mania has exhibited throughout the United States and served on the faculty of several schools, including the College of New Jersey, the Waldorf School of Princeton and the Princeton Junior School.
She lives and works on the banks of the Lockatong Creek preserve in Stockton, New Jersey.