FROM THE ARTIST SUSAN MURAR

As Norval Morrisseau once remarked, “I was born an artist,” I too feel I was born to be a sculptor. When I was a child I lived on a remote Northern farmstead in a log house, vintage 1880s. Only one small wooden plaque of Abraham Lincoln, copper coloured in relief hanging on the wall over the rocking chair, adorned our home. Looking at that image as a young girl was a pivotal point for me, in seeing the beauty of art in a sculpted portrait. I dug wet red clay out from the water-logged basement under the house, and sculpted my impression of Abe Lincoln, giving it as a present to a favoured teacher.

I’ve since learned that we are all connected—all of humanity has one heart so to speak. As an artist, there is no one who has NOT influenced me, in our world together and the art we create. I use all that knowledge and love and beauty in the world to influence my art, emotionally and intellectually, as a sculptor. It is also necessary to remain open to “formal” education, with its broad range of instructors, ideas and practical applications, and I pursued those studies with an cum laude

BA, MFA, and AOCADU’84, well into my 40s in age. I never gave up and will continue to pursue my love.

PERMANENT COLLECTIONS IN CANADA

Library and Archives Canada, Gatineau, Que.

Home Children Canada, Renfrew, Ont

Commission for Claude Nunney portrait, WWI VC Stratford Shakespeare Festival exhibition and archives University of Calgary, Mackimmie Library