ARTIST'S STATEMENT 

I paint to transform the chaos of memories, images, thoughts, colors, shapes, patterns and textures that swirl through my mind into something that reflects order and beauty-like when the shards in a kaleidoscope finally stop shifting and settle into a colorful, well-balanced composition. 

The foundation of my painting is drawing. I work on linen panels, drawing the many elements I see in our hectic world along with those that pour out of my mind. Then I paint, repaint, and rearrange them until the painting becomes grounded. The multiplicity of images collectively form overall patterns. These patterns serve as an organizational device. The main figures end up subsumed in a world of flowers, butterflies, cupcakes, snails and so on. The chasm between the chaos of life and the coherence of the otherworldly, fantastical places I create imbues my paintings with poetry and mystery. 

My paintings tell a story that continues to reveal itself with each viewing. Each painting contains multiple vignettes, some from my life and some purely from my imagination, forming an orderly artistic whole. The finished work tells not only my story but a story which resonates with the viewer. 

I seek to transform the dissonance around us into balance and harmony.  

 

BIOGRAPHY 

Susan McLaughlin is recognized for her hauntingly imaginative and energetic paintings depicting harmony between humanity and nature. 

John Torreano, Co-Director of NYU’s Painting Program, wrote in his foreward to her book, Depingo Ergo Sum

Ms. McLaughlin’s paintings show authority with brushwork and she maintains a consistently assertive and convincing quality in both style and image. She moves nimbly across subject matter, context and medium, in order to present a coherent artistic vision. 

When reviewing Ms. McLaughlin’s paintings, the well-known curator Ethan Karp wrote, “Ms McLaughlin's paintings appear to be wonderfully obsessive and subversive as well as beautifully made.” 

Ms. McLaughlin’s work has been exhibited in museums such as the Monmouth Museum, NJ, The Bonnet House Museum, Ft. Lauderdale, NSU Art Museum, FL, and The Arnot Art Museum, NY. Her gallery exhibits include Aqua Art Miami; Artexpo, New York; Art Basel Miami, FL; 3rd Biennial of Contemporary Art of Argentia; Municipal Gallery, Cultural Arts Commission of Newtown, CT; Martha Gault Gallery, PA; Armstrong Gallery, GA; The Guild 545, FL; Dacia Gallery, NY and 13 Saatchi Artists (online). She also exhibits and is an Artist in Residence at Fat Village Center for the Arts, FL. She is an exhibiting member of the Society of Creative Artists of Newtown, where she has won the Judges’ Award. She has also received a Judges' Award and Best in Show Award from the Broward Art Guild, Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Ms. McLaughlin’s art is in many private collections including Calvin Klein and BBDO. 

Ms. McLaughlin was born in Manhattan, and painted and lived there for most of her life. She earned a BFA from Parsons and a MA from NYU. She currently maintains two other studios – one in Lauderdale by the Sea, FL and the other in Newtown, CT. The varied locations at which she paints have had a positive influence on her artistic vision. She has been especially influenced by her wooded, lakeside environment in Newtown, where she is able to study the natural world around her.