Susan
Tabachnick
I make things out of found objects, both sculptural and functional. My work is about connections and the partnering of disparate objects. I’ve always been attracted to the idea that everything has a history. I may not know what it is, but it brings a patina, a fingerprint of its past life to my work table. When the histories of these objects are joined, an unexpected piece of work comes forth. I’m attracted to items, well crafted, once essential and necessary with a particular purpose.
My works of art begin with an object that I am attracted to rather than a fixed idea of something that I want to build. As the pieces come together – they are never altered in any way – a new “life” is resurrected from a previous one. Importantly, the process requires that all the parts balance as the construction evolves; this drives the flexibility and fluidity of finding just the right part. The great majority of my work is made from wood and metal objects.
I learned to embroider when I was a little girl. Later came sewing, knitting, crocheting and weaving. Textile arts taught me to appreciate the finest details, that how the back side looked was as important as the front. That being a perfectionist was a curse.
I sometimes explore options to a point of overload, where making a decision waits for clarity, or not at all. When something feels right, it’s right. And when it doesn’t, it’s not.
Education
B.S. Southern Connecticut State College, New Haven, CT
Private lessons with master weaver Lucille Landis
Solo Exhibitions
2012: Stuff, Pious Bird of Good Omen, Fairfield, CT
2014: The Lost & Found Circus: A Creative Balancing Act, The Barnum Museum, Bridgeport, CT
2015: Music - Art - Nature, Treetops Chamber Music Society, Stamford, CT
2015: Assemblages, Pious Bird of Good Omen, Bridgeport, CT
2019: Artifacts, River Road Gallery, Wilton, CT
2019: A Pop of Color, Downtown Special Services District, Bridgeport, CT
2020: Artifacts, DaSilva Gallery, New Haven, CT
Group Exhibitions
2009: 4th Annual Members’ Show, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2009: This + That, Art of Collage, Assemblage & Found Objects, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2010: Recycled, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2011: Grand Opening, City Lights West, Westport, CT
2015: West Cove Gallery, West Haven, CT
2015: On and Off the Wall, M.A.W. Fairfield Group Show, Fairfield Theatre Company, Fairfield, CT
2016: Parts is Parts: Assemblage & Collage, The Schelfhaudt Gallery, University of Bridgeport, CT
2016: Lost + Found, 2016 Annual Exhibition, LAA, Stamford, CT. Juror: Larissa Bailiff, MOMA, NYC
2017: 305: Revitalized, 305 Knowlton, Bridgeport, CT
2019: SAMESEX, City Lights Gallery, Bridgeport, CT
2020: Small is the New Big, Honorable Mention, Rene Soto Gallery, Norwalk, CT
2020: USPS Art Project, Eli Center for Contemporary Art, New Haven, CT
2020: USPS Art Project, InLiquid, Philadelphia, PA
2021: 77th Annual Connecticut Artists Juried Exhibition, Slater Memorial Museum, Norwich, CT